Burl preparation

[William McAloney]

Brethren, to415473
Today I received the gift of a whole cherry tree. I cut most of the bole into bowl blanks to be anchorsealed in the customary manner but I'm unsure what to do with the three large burls. I've considered doing nothing except anchorsealing the ends. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to slab them on my friend's bandsaw mill first.
Two of them will yield pieces which exceed the capacity of my 16" Nova lathe. These I think should be handled to keep them as large as possible for someone else who has a lathe of sufficient capacity.
I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions as to how to best utilize this gift.

[John Hart]

Very nice gift. Nothing wrong with making several small gorgeous natural edge pieces that would look wonderful on someone's desk or end table. And a 16" bowl would look handsome on a coffee table. I'd love to make a find like that.

[Pat Scott]

I agree with John, cut them up and make whatever you want from them. A 16" bowl is a huge bowl, nothing wrong with making smaller bowls.

Do not just anchor seal the ends and leave them whole or they will still crack. I was recently given 6 large burls that were cut whole and have been drying for 10 years. There are so many cracks that go all the way to the center that I am lucky if I can get pen blanks out of them.

[Prashun Patel]

I'd definitely keep it. I like burls turned "inside out" because the live edge is usually very interesting and something you can't get from a normal log.

I also would not fret about restricting yourself to 16" or even smaller. You can optimize for orientation, grain, depth, and design. When optimizing for size (like we're prejudiced into doing when given a large log) you don't get this luxury.

[Peter Blair]

I agree with the others here. Don't just Anchorseal and see what happens. Nice thought to hold for someone else BUT it it were me I'd be cutting them up and then coating them after I planned on the many pieces I could make on my 16" lathe.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

great excuse for getting a coring rig...

[kevin nee]

I am a big fan of bringing burls to the Sawmill. You can see what you have and cut accordingly.
Good luck,
415793 415794


I agree with John, cut them up and make whatever you want from them. A 16" bowl is a huge bowl, nothing wrong with making smaller bowls.

Do not just anchor seal the ends and leave them whole or they will still crack. I was recently given 6 large burls that were cut whole and have been drying for 10 years. There are so many cracks that go all the way to the center that I am lucky if I can get pen blanks out of them.

[Tim Rinehart]

I love how threads in a turners forum with the term “ burl” in it never fails to make one look!