# How to approach this burl?



## Andrew T (Jun 5, 2021)

So from what I've seen since joining this is more of a celebration forum, but I would like some advice from you experts with something I just found off CL. It's...well, it's a burl - probably not a great one, but for $15 I was willing to take a chance. From the way the seller talked, it sounded like it was either left by or gifted by another woodworker; she didn't have any investment in the sale other than getting it off her rock garden.

I sawed it into two when I got home (the shadow on the limb face isn't a crack, just a ridge serving as a poor reminder of my poor sawing), but it was debarked when I got it, and the two freshly sawed faces read between 5-7% on my cheap meter. I'm too green to recognize the wood beyond thinking it resembles a few other spalted maple pieces I have in hand; minimal punk seen in the freshly sawn faces or on the exterior, though plenty of bug holes on the limb. The burl measures 9" from face to face of the log, and is an oval 9.5" x 13" at its widest; when in one piece, it was 46" in length all together. (I was half-tempted to try carving it into a war hammer. You know, because.)

My question is: how would you approach this guy? I'm not a turner, so I'd probably slice this down into inlays for other projects, but I'm not sure which angle to attack it from, especially with the odd folds and bark inclusions on the sides. Would you all continue slicing parallel to the log faces and hope the burl forms nice rings, or attack from the side and hope it forms nice rectangular panels? Or do something completely different I can't think of?


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Jun 5, 2021)

If you want eyes, you need to cut one direction, if you want rays, you need a different direction. If you are using as inlay in small pieces, not too many ways to be absolutely wrong. If you would like it to be a bit larger squares or rectangles, you might saw strips off it and pour epoxy around it in a rectangular form. If you use a deep pour epoxy,you can cut thicker slices when pouring then resaw them to get book matched slices. I suspect there is a diagram somewhere that shows the eye vs ray cutting pattern

Reactions: Like 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Jun 5, 2021)



Reactions: Like 4 | Informative 2


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## Andrew T (Jun 5, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> If you want eyes, you need to cut one direction, if you want rays, you need a different direction. If you are using as inlay in small pieces, not too many ways to be absolutely wrong. If you would like it to be a bit larger squares or rectangles, you might saw strips off it and pour epoxy around it in a rectangular form. If you use a deep pour epoxy,you can cut thicker slices when pouring then resaw them to get book matched slices. I suspect there is a diagram somewhere that shows the eye vs ray cutting pattern


I was just thinking over which directions produce the eyes vs the rays [and as I type, thanks Eric for the exact diagram], but looking at this burl there are very few, if any, of those sharp little bud/growth buggers looking to tear up my hands. So I've a feeling this might end up with some nice crazy grain but not many eyes, no matter how I literally and figuratively slice it. But even so, I'm wondering if anyone has inspiration on how to minimize the...hmm, negative impact of all those gaps and inclusions in the surface? If that makes any sense?

ETA: I think that, aside from the usual suspense of cutting into burl, I'm struck by the distinct impression in this case that I will get either nice wreathes of grain or a rat's nest of sadness, with no other options in between, and was wondering if a more experienced eye could make a more educated guess as to what I might expect.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Jun 5, 2021)

@Mike1950 whatcha think
@Burly Man ?
@Lumptastic ?
You all have a lot of cut beyond.my one 6 inch cherry burl...

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Burly Man (Jun 5, 2021)

Short of turning it as a whole burl which would be my first choice, since you have stated you are not a turner, I would make my cuts parallel to the log (where the log was) as if you were cutting for eyes. While I doubt you will get many eyes, if any at all, I think if there is any nice figure or grain in there to be had, this cut would be the way to get it. This way you are doing more of a rip and less of a cross cut, and therefor you will end up with less end grain in your "slabs" that you are slicing off. The more highly figured the burl is the more you can cross cut the burl from how the trunk or log was growing out of it and have great results. The less figured the burl when you cross cut it, the more you're going to end up with something that just resembles end grain. So go for the long grain cut off both sides and then you could always reassess how you want to cut the block you have left after you see what's going on a bit more. Thats my two cents:) good luck... tag me if you post any after pics so I can see what you ended up with!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mike1950 (Jun 6, 2021)

be careful- irregular shapes on bandsaw are hazardous. It is small which limits options. Erik's diagram is good. but if you start at outside as pictured, if blade bides bad stuff will happen faster than you can say Oh S....... 
swirly figure at best but maybe some nice spalt. good luck.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Andrew T (Jun 6, 2021)

Will do, @Burly Man, and very good point, @Mike1950. I have plenty of offcuts around, I'll find something that can be sacrificed to support those ledges as they're sliced through. (Too bad most of it's curly maple, I think...)


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## DLJeffs (Jun 6, 2021)

I'd put on camoflage, paint my face, dose myself with oil of oak, and then sneak up on it keeping the wind in my face so it can't smell me. Move slowly and only when the burl isn't looking at you. Watch the burl closely, if it starts acting nervous, stop and give it time to calm down again.

Reactions: Funny 9 | Informative 1


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## Burly Man (Jun 6, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> be careful- irregular shapes on bandsaw are hazardous. It is small which limits options. Erik's diagram is good. but if you start at outside as pictured, if blade bides bad stuff will happen faster than you can say Oh S.......
> swirly figure at best but maybe some nice spalt. good luck.


Well said Mike... no Burl is worth it if you’re risking having an Oh S___ moment.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 3


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## Mike1950 (Jun 6, 2021)

DLJeffs said:


> I'd put on camoflage, paint my face, dose myself with oil of oak, and then sneak up on it keeping the wind in my face so it can't smell me. Move slowly and only when the burl isn't looking at you. Watch the burl closely, if it starts acting nervous, stop and give it time to calm down again.


And then blast it with the biggest gun you have!!!

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Mike1950 (Jun 6, 2021)

Burly Man said:


> Well said Mike... no Burl is worth it if you’re risking having an Oh S___ moment.


a member that is no longer here bought a 24" Grizzly bandsaw -fired it up and proceeded to put a big burl on it with flat side up -blade bound up -front of burl slammed into table and back slammed into his jaw. he woke up to stars a few minutes later. it happens faster then you can get O out.

Reactions: Sincere 2


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## Andrew T (Jun 6, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> a member that is no longer here bought a 24" Grizzly bandsaw -fired it up and proceeded to put a big burl on it with flat side up -blade bound up -front of burl slammed into table and back slammed into his jaw. he woke up to stars a few minutes later. it happens faster then you can get O out.


Flat side _up??_ Oh...oh dear...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Jun 6, 2021)

Andrew T said:


> Flat side _up??_ Oh...oh dear...


One you have will want to roll.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Burly Man (Jun 6, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> a member that is no longer here bought a 24" Grizzly bandsaw -fired it up and proceeded to put a big burl on it with flat side up -blade bound up -front of burl slammed into table and back slammed into his jaw. he woke up to stars a few minutes later. it happens faster then you can get O out.


It happened to me on my laguna 24”... I put a new 1” blade that was more aggressive than anything I’d used on it before... ha, in hindsight much too aggressive for what I was trying to do, It was some fancy blade for about $200 and had to be something scary like one tooth per inch. Same as you mentioned... first cut and BAM!!! Blink of an eye. I was lucky, it only jammed my thumb and ruined the blade and sent the piece across the shop. I turned the saw off and didn’t touch it again for a year (I have two other smaller bandsaws). I had sliced dozens of burls on it before that day but now I stick to cutting them up with my chainsaw and sawmill.

Reactions: Sincere 1


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## Andrew T (Jun 6, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> One you have will want to roll.


True there; what I think I'll do to start is tack some scraps under the log's ends to stabilise it on its side temporarily, take one cut perpendicular to the log to make a flat-ish surface, then cut eye-wise the rest of the way. No one is going to the ER today! (Because I can't afford it.)

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Jun 6, 2021)

Burly Man said:


> It happened to me on my laguna 24”... I put a new 1” blade that was more aggressive than anything I’d used on it before... ha, in hindsight much too aggressive for what I was trying to do, It was some fancy blade for about $200 and had to be something scary like one tooth per inch. Same as you mentioned... first cut and BAM!!! Blink of an eye. I was lucky, it only jammed my thumb and ruined the blade and sent the piece across the shop. I turned the saw off and didn’t touch it again for a year (I have two other smaller bandsaws). I had sliced dozens of burls on it before that day but now I stick to cutting them up with my chainsaw and sawmill.


I have stopped my saw 2 or 3 times. Once with a 1" piece of Persimmon. So much tension it stopped 3 hp and I had to cut blade. Once the piece tipped bound up and stopped 5 hp. Scared me. The only time I hurt myself was hitting blade with a 3/4×3/4×12" piece into blade accidently. Rolled and banged my finger. Ouch.


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## barry richardson (Jun 6, 2021)

Looks like it would make an interesting piece turned whole, or you could go to town on with power carving tools, like an angle grinder with blades for carving, and make a rustic bowl. That is how I would attack it anyhow....

Reactions: Like 1


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## Nature Man (Jun 6, 2021)

I had a similar grab with a round 4” limb, the very first time I used my bandsaw. Scared the heck out of me, but fortunately no real harm done other than bruising my finger if I recall. Was a real eye-opener to the forces involved with a bandsaw. Chuck

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Jun 7, 2021)

Nature Man said:


> I had a similar grab with a round 4” limb, the very first time I used my bandsaw. Scared the heck out of me, but fortunately no real harm done other than bruising my finger if I recall. Was a real eye-opener to the forces involved with a bandsaw. Chuck


it rolled on you?


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## Nature Man (Jun 7, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> it rolled on you?


Yep! In a microsecond! Chuck

Reactions: Like 1


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