Tips for harvesting Burl, crotch and small timbers

[Peter Hartman]

I am a firewood scavenger and in this area there are lots of oaks, walnuts, maples ect. Can some one explain or point me to an article that explains the harvest, storage and use of burl and crotch wood? I was processing a very large black out that got hit by lightning 2 years ago. The stump had some really cool texture. I sawed it up into roughly 8"x12"x8" blocks. I painted end grain with some interior paint that I had laying around. I don't really have and specific plans, but I though I would resaw some of it and put some of it on the lathe to play around with. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Bill Space]

I do not have much in the way of advice, except that I would probably leave pieces as long as possible until dry to minimize end grain splitting.

Not much help now that you have already cut them into short pieces. :eek:

[Peter Hartman]

Unfortunately my help cut them up while I was working on another section of the tree. I will take that into consideration for other trees in the future though.

[Fred Belknap]

Peter my method is to cut the blocks around 14 to 20" long and split them through the middle (pith). I coat all the exposed wood with Anchorseal which is a water based wax. Store them out of the sun and in the dry. At the least cover them with a tarp. If they lay on the ground they may spalt which is good or they might rot. I store mine in a old barn and they last about year before they crack. I know that others use paint but I haven't used it.