I bought 3 cherry burls at an auction.

I roughed one out and it is "interesting". There are voids and places where
the wood is rock hard next to places where it is punky. Needless to say, it
is tough going. The results might be pretty, or they might be trash; too
soon to say, I an not even sure if I can finish it without it breaking
apart.

Is this typical for a burl? Anything to be done to make it easier?

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I bought 3 cherry burls at an auction.

I roughed one out and it is "interesting". There are voids and places
where the wood is rock hard next to places where it is punky. Needless to
say, it is tough going. The results might be pretty, or they might be
trash; too soon to say, I an not even sure if I can finish it without it
breaking apart.

Is this typical for a burl? Anything to be done to make it easier?


Cherry burls frequently involve folding of more "normal" grain sections
between the rapidly-growing sections. Traps bark, moisture and grit in
there, which leads to the white rot you noticed.

It's like the box of chocolates, turning burls. Just keep repairing as soon
as you detect a fault or be prepared to eat some wood.

"George" wrote in message
. net...

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I bought 3 cherry burls at an auction.

I roughed one out and it is "interesting". There are voids and places
where the wood is rock hard next to places where it is punky. Needless
to say, it is tough going. The results might be pretty, or they might be
trash; too soon to say, I an not even sure if I can finish it without it
breaking apart.

Is this typical for a burl? Anything to be done to make it easier?


Cherry burls frequently involve folding of more "normal" grain sections
between the rapidly-growing sections. Traps bark, moisture and grit in
there, which leads to the white rot you noticed.

It's like the box of chocolates, turning burls. Just keep repairing as
soon as you detect a fault or be prepared to eat some wood.
Assume I am ignorant. What do you mean repair? I have some Captain
Tolley's Crack Sealant, which I have put in some of the cracks to secure
them; but it obviously does nothing for the voids.

voids are your friend - they add character to the finished piece


"Toller" wrote in message
...

"George" wrote in message
. net...

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I bought 3 cherry burls at an auction.

I roughed one out and it is "interesting". There are voids and places
where the wood is rock hard next to places where it is punky. Needless
to say, it is tough going. The results might be pretty, or they might
be trash; too soon to say, I an not even sure if I can finish it without
it breaking apart.

Is this typical for a burl? Anything to be done to make it easier?


Cherry burls frequently involve folding of more "normal" grain sections
between the rapidly-growing sections. Traps bark, moisture and grit in
there, which leads to the white rot you noticed.

It's like the box of chocolates, turning burls. Just keep repairing as
soon as you detect a fault or be prepared to eat some wood.
Assume I am ignorant. What do you mean repair? I have some Captain
Tolley's Crack Sealant, which I have put in some of the cracks to secure
them; but it obviously does nothing for the voids.




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Toller" wrote in message
...
It's like the box of chocolates, turning burls. Just keep repairing as
soon as you detect a fault or be prepared to eat some wood.
Assume I am ignorant. What do you mean repair? I have some Captain
Tolley's Crack Sealant, which I have put in some of the cracks to secure
them; but it obviously does nothing for the voids.


Voids are optional. You can leave them as a "feature," as Bill suggests, or
you can keep some bark on hand to stuff into a void pre-treated with medium
CA for a "natural" look of another sort. Some like the unnatural look of
color (inlace) fills. If you decide to go for feature, you'll have to
decide if you want to firm up the white rot that lines the voids or remove
it with a wire brush. Same as with the outer bark, really.

What you must repair and monitor are the cracks that run from the voids or
occur at random through the piece. First click you hear is a stop, search
and repair situation. It's not a one-time deal, either. You'll want to
keep up with them as you approach your final shape. Since I turn
outside/inside, I run masking tape around the outside as a dam for the glue
I'm putting in the cracks. Even with a pre-treatment accelerant spritz, the
stuff can run some amazing places and remain liquid for a long time, so be
careful.