Cherry Burl

[Dave Novak]

Hey guys. About 10 ago years my dad bought me this cherry burl right after I bought a band saw. I feel awful about it, but I still haven't done anything with it. At first it was because I was new to owning a bandsaw and didn't want to mess it up, but even after gaining some confidence with the saw I still lack confidence with respect to what this little burl is best suited to build and how I should orient it through the saw. I'm also concerned about the checks, and how I might cut it up to avoid having a bunch of crappy checked up slices. My initial (and only) thought is to just slice it into boards that will clean up to be 1/2" thick and make a box. My Dad's birthday is about 4weeks away and I'd like to make something for him with it. Any advice you guys might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[Dennis McDonaugh]

I have a couple of burls I've had for years and I slices pieces off to make veneer for panels on small doors and boxes. A little burl can go a long way.

[Dave Novak]

I wish I felt comfortable doing that. Although I've cut some (just for fun) I've never actually veneered anything. I have a performax 16-32 sander, so I'm pretty sure I could make decent veneer even at my rookie level. I'd need to practice that on a different burl than this one though, I'd like to build my Dad something nice out of this one.


I have a couple of burls I've had for years and I slices pieces off to make veneer for panels on small doors and boxes. A little burl can go a long way.

[curtis rosche]

slice thin and don't worry about cracks unless they are very large. Later fill the cracks with charcoal dust and clear epoxy. cant really go wrong too much

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I wish I felt comfortable doing that. Although I've cut some (just for fun) I've never actually veneered anything. I have a performax 16-32 sander, so I'm pretty sure I could make decent veneer even at my rookie level. I'd need to practice that on a different burl than this one though, I'd like to build my Dad something nice out of this one.

If you have a Performax then you're ready to go! That's what I use to sand my veneers. If you are skittish, then start by making veneer out of pine until you have a little confidence in your capabilities. I normally just use 1/4 plywood as the substrate and haven't had any problems. The biggest I've made is about 30" long by 8" wide and I'm size limited by my clamping capability since I don't have a vacuum press.

[Dave Novak]

How thick are your finished veneers? What kind of glue do you use? Guess I should quit being a wimp, watch a couple YouTube videos, and give it a shot. Thanks!


If you have a Performax then you're ready to go! That's what I use to sand my veneers. If you are skittish, then start by making veneer out of pine until you have a little confidence in your capabilities. I normally just use 1/4 plywood as the substrate and haven't had any problems. The biggest I've made is about 30" long by 8" wide and I'm size limited by my clamping capability since I don't have a vacuum press.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Less than 1/8, but not quite 1/16.

Here's a pic of a drawer front of curly maple veneered over poplar.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/drawerfront_zpsce6a6b12.jpg

I use yellow glue and have never had a problem with delamination or glue creep although I hear that is possible with yellow glue.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

For your burl, you either have to make a sled or put a flat spot on it big enough for it to go through the band saw without moving. Either way works, but it has to be very secure to keep it from moving while you are slicing it thin. Mine is sorta rectangular so I sawed one side flat and then jointed it so it would be very stable, then flipped it 90 degrees and put another face on it like I was jointing a board.

I don't know that there is actually a wrong way to go about it.

[Dave Novak]

Thanks Dennis. I'll tackle it this weekend.