Wood Harvesting
By koopharper
@koopharper (7477)
Canada
December 9, 2017 5:38pm CST
I have been casting jealous eyes across the road into the bush where there are loads of burls growing on the chokecherry trees there. Large ones that would just be great to turn on my lathe. Burls have convoluted grain and colour and can make spectacular pieces. The problem is that they are all growing over there and my property I don't think has a single burl worth cutting into.
I did get a stroke of luck. Neighbour down the road had one of those trees overhanging his driveway and I found out he wanted to be rid of it. Cherry is beautiful wood even without the burl so I asked him if I could cut up and cart off the whole thing. Now I've got a seventy-five-pound burl seasoning slowly in our bicycle shed. I'll be making stuff out of as much of this tree as I can. Free wood like this is always welcome.
I did post this to my Facebook page but I did something different. I put it on my personal wall first and then shared it to the page. Seems Facebook hides anything they think they are missing out on monetarily. This way my friends and family are seeing it. My wife has some other ideas that might help Facebook exposure. They will not defeat me.
Here's a video of the tree processing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJe_FUC2Vng&feature=youtu.be
A neighbour of mine wanted to get rid of a chokecherry tree leaning over his driveway. He generously allowed me to cut it up and cart it off for material for...
6 people like this
8 responses
@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
The wood is actually cherry. There is plenty of maple growing in the bush here but I haven't seen any maple burls at all. They would be nice to get as well. I might find a burl on the birch back here as well but that remains to be seen. I will post the things I make.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
@LadyDuck Walnut burls would be really nice. No walnut trees back in here though. I'm kind of curious about something now. There are old apple trees sprinkled through the bush here from when the area was first settled. Some of them are really gnarly looking. I wonder if there are apple burls out there. Might be worth checking out. The only other possible exotic out here would be white elm and there aren't many of them. I don't recall seeing any burls on them.
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@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
10 Dec 17
@koopharper I have seen walnut burls on the trees in the woods around our house.
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
@sallypup We live in the bush here and I do enjoy taking walks. I'm looking forward to the mud freezing. Right now and walk along the road is a slog.
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
@sallypup When the mud is a problem or there is lots of snow we park at the end of the road and hike the half kilometre in. The local farmer digs out a spot for our car to be out of the way of the plough during the winter months. He hasn't had to come and fetch me with the tractor yet.
@sallypup (57849)
• Centralia, Washington
10 Dec 17
@koopharper I love to prowl woods. When I was a kid we hunted for morel mushrooms. When I can, I still enjoy hiking among Doug fir trees and vine maples.
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@rebelann (111163)
• El Paso, Texas
10 Dec 17
I afraid I don't work wood so I do not know what you mean by season @koopharper I was thinking steak when I saw that but of course that's not quite the same thing 
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
@rebelann Seasoning wood just means that it's had a chance to dry out. Greenwood has a really high moisture content. As it drys it shrinks a little bit. Because the amount of shrinkage is different with the grain than it is across the grain wood actually changes shape a little as it dries.
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
A burl this big would be good for making a large wooden vase. My equipment at this point isn't big enough to handle it. There was a smaller burl further down the trunk which is also in the shed. I will likely turn that into a bowl first. Depending on how that goes will determine what I intend to do with that big one. I may cut it up to make a set of four matching bowls but it might be worth waiting till I can afford more capable machinery. It can be turned green but I'm a little reluctant to cut into it right away. It'll take probably two years to fully season and I'm not sure I'm willing to wait that long either.
2 people like this
@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
31 Dec 17
It is interesting to be able to find quality materials right close to home that only requires a bit of extra work to get.
@acelawrites (19273)
• Philippines
16 Aug 18
What are you doing with wood burls? Do you turn it into artwork pieces? Congrats for your nice work!
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
16 Aug 18
The intention is to mount them on my wood lathe and turn some high-end items out of them. The one I harvested in the video though is too big for my machine. Right now it is seasoning (drying) in a shed. I'll probably have to cut it into smaller chunks to make use of it.
1 person likes this
@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
16 Aug 18
@acelawrites Mostly bowls, candle holders, and other items. The intention is to sell some of them online and make it part of my woodworking business plans.
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@acelawrites (19273)
• Philippines
16 Aug 18
@koopharper it's a nice project; you are turning those woods into something useful.
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@Scrapper88 (5957)
• United States
10 Dec 17
I have a friend who likes to get the burls too and make something out of them.
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
There are companies that sell the things. I kind of like the idea of finding one and processing it from start to finish myself. This one, of course, is way to big for my equipment. I'm debating how long I will let it season and whether I will cut it up into smaller pieces or not.
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@Scrapper88 (5957)
• United States
10 Dec 17
@koopharper My friend likes to get the burls off the trees himself. He does not buy the burls.
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
@Scrapper88 I may at some point seek out the owners of the properties across the mud road from me. The burls here are caused by a fungus which actually kills some of the smaller trees and it is quite contagious. I just might be able to get permission to start collecting them. There have got to be at least fifty of them that are large enough to work with.
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@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
Good luck with the burl. It will be interesting to see what you make from it.
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
10 Dec 17
I'm really curious as to what it looks like on the inside. Even if it turns out to be really ordinary it is cherry and will be quite nice no matter what.
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@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
11 Dec 17
So that's what those are called. I've seen those, but didn't know they are called "burl."
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@koopharper (7477)
• Canada
11 Dec 17
They are quite common in some places. It's caused by all different sorts of things.
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