Ditch Find ?

[Duff Bement]

I need help. As I was driving home the other night I spotted the county road crew cleaning up brush in the ditch. What they left behind was wonderful stack of boxelder burl and some with just a really twisted grain. I want to make small end grain boxes and bowls out of it but I am not sure of the best way to dry it. I would like to take the 18 to 24 inch long logs and cut them into say 4x4x8 and dry them so I turn a bunch at one time. I don’t want to screw this up ! Some of this stuff really pretty. Any help or suggestions are GREATLY appreciated.
Duff

[Jim Becker]

You have a good plan, although you might not want to get them "really dry" before turning them. For spindle work, you want dry, but for bowls and vessels, turning green or partially green wood is a lot more enjoyable. You may want to keep your chunks larger in the beginning however, so you have the opportunity to play with them between centers to optimize the orientation of the blanks (you can't always see how the burl goes without cutting into it). And don't forget to seal the end-grain to slow moisture release to minimize checking. Anchorseal is the preferred product but you can use VERY hot paraffin for the same thing or use just paint if it's all you have.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Duff
Just a little info first, it takes for long-grain wood 1 year per inch in thickness to dry this is the general rule.
There's also a good reason why you see very little larger dimensional dry wood, and even less that hasn't split, it is very hard to do.
The proven best way for making boxes from wet wood is to rough turn them while wet and then let them dry, it also takes a lot less time to dry 1/2 inch thick wood than 4 inch, also if done right, there will be much less splitting, as the wood is able to move easier with the inside removed, end grain should still be sealed though IMO, good thing about burl is that there is grain going in all directions, so it is more stable in a sense.
Keep your top and bottom taped together or marked so you know which goes with what, keeping them in brown paper bags is a good way to slow down the drying and help prevent splitting, or if you have more of them, a closed cardboard box is also a good storage place till dry.

[Paul Engle]

Nice score, I agree with the others , when I turn wet or sopping wet to 10% final thickness / size, I pack em the chips and then stuff into brown paper bags and let sit 4-6 weeks ( keep weighing em and when they stop losing weight , they pretty much done) I do the finish turning and back into the chips for a week and then do the final turn / finish. Worked very well on some Birch/maple burl hf's done previously and have some Yew cooking right now for end of Nov.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I never thought it a good idea to include the shavings with the turning, as it easily can cause staining and discoloration, even spalting if left too long, anyway that's my experience with it.
Though it is no desert here, so that could make for some difference ;-))