Wood gloat.......Now what?

[Frank Pearsall]

Was given a 30” diameter chunk of sassafras (really) with burls from a local tree trimmer's wood lot.

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What's the best way to harvest burls from the trunk?

Many thanks!

[William Bachtel]

Bring it to me, and I will cut it on a bandsawmill, no waste, and perfect cut. Cost20 bucks. Gas way more than that. Curly Sassy is one of my favorite woods, I have had logs up to 38 inches, that were totally curly.

[Darren Jamieson]

You know, probably the best thing you could do is pack the whole thing up and send it up here to me. Don't even trouble yourself with the mess and all. I'll post pictures of what I do with it and explain so you know for next time.

[Mike Cruz]

That is a worthless chuch of wood. I would say that you should just burn it, but sassafrass isn't a great burning wood. So, to take the burdon of throwing it away, or the mess of leaving it where it is and killing your grass, I'll take it away for you. See how nice SMC members are? Are you seeing a common theme to your thread yet?

Nice grab. Great to have friends that throw fantastic wood at you, isn't it?

[Baxter Smith]

Are you sure that isn't a toy truck?;):) Your shop is going to smell good for a while!

[Frank Pearsall]

Well, it is a Toyota Tacoma... Seriously though, what's the best way to harvest the burls? Are they just on the surface to be cut off or do they grow down into the wood and require a different tactic to get the largest workable piece? I've never encountered them in the wild, so to speak.

Any suggestions?

[Mike Cruz]

Hard to say, Frank. Sometimes that are just on the surface and are only as big as they protrude from the tree. Other times, it goes down into the heartwood. Its like a box of chocolates...