It's bark is worse than it's blight! (Cherry burl.)

[Allan Speers]

Sorry, I couldn't resist a bad joke.

Had a bad day. Now I feel better. Sort of.

A while back I asked you guys if 11 year old burl was still OK to turn, and got the answer I was hoping for. I never DID get a lathe, but I wanted to know if they were worth trying to sell, if I don't keep them for veneer.

Well, I couldn't find the bloody things... Today I discovered them under a tarp way in the back. I had moved them about a year ago. Cut to the chase, about half of them are fine, but the other half seemingly hosted a PPB convention. Little did I know you're not supposed to store them with the bark on. Ughh....

I've now de-barked them, (And heavily dosed with Bora-Care) and happily there are very few holes in the main burl area, they are almost exclusively on the ends. I'm thinking of "cutting them back" on my bandsaw, in hopes the critters didn't dig too far in, but this will of course remove a good deal of the "non-burl" trunks, which currently extend past the burls by just a few inches on each end.
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MY QUESTION IS: Do you ever turn burls that have some beetle holes & tracks, filling it in with acryllic, or maybe just leaving it open as you would with a looser burl formation? Or should I go ahead and start cutting them back?

My other option would be to turn them all into veneer, and toss the ones with holes, but these are nice big burls & that seems like a waste.

[ALAN HOLLAR]

Beetle holes are character. As long as there is enough wood between them to hold the piece together the holes, which I leave as holes, are just more of that random design variation that nature provides. I turned some sugar maple burl once with carpenter ant tunnels large enough to stick my thumb in. It was glorious!

[Allan Speers]

Thanks, Alan. That's what I was hoping.

[Prashun Patel]

That is not a bad joke. That is a wonderful joke.

Yes, I turn wood with bug holes all the time. Just make sure they have left the wood, of course.

I rarely fill the holes. Bug holes are features not - er - bugs.

[Wes Ramsey]

Bug holes are features not - er - bugs.

Ha! I think that's something only IT guys find humor in ;)

[Prashun Patel]

Wes, there are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand computer jokes, and those who don't.

[Allan Speers]

Thanks for the additional confirmation, Prashun.

Do either of you have an pics of finished pieces, which had a small amount of such holes? I'd be very interested to see them.

[Wes Ramsey]

Wes, there are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand computer jokes, and those who don't.

Outstanding!


Thanks for the additional confirmation, Prashun.

Do either of you have an pics of finished pieces, which had a small amount of such holes? I'd be very interested to see them.
I have been turning some box elder bowls with several bug holes in them. I usually fill them with coffee grounds and CA glue so the piece will hold liquids, but I prefer to leave them. Just looks better. I don't have any finished pieces like that on hand, but I may be finishing some up soon. If I do I'll come back and post a couple of pics.