How to cut a Birch burl for bookmatched
KiddervilleAcres
| Posted in General Discussion on
HI All,
I have a friend who has what appears to be a magnificent Birch burl. The burl itself is approx. 32″ in diameter and on each end of it the sawyer has left approx. 2′ of the trunk. The trunk itself measures about 15″ in diameter.
Would like to get as much 1″ bookmatched stock as possible from it. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I should have this cut? I also have a local sawyer with a portable mill that can slab it for me. I’m also concerned with the best method of drying it for use.
Several people I have talked to indicate that I should have it cut in half, and then proceed from there on out. That seems like a lot of work blocking and shimming to keep the slabs reasonably square.
Any thoughts woul be much appreciated.
Replies
We have processed over 80 thousand pounds of maple burl over the last year. We were milling for bookmatches and grade. We had our sawyer quarter the burls. Here is a link to our site explaining our processes http://www.nwtimber.com/milling/
I hope this was helpful
Wow. That's a way to spend some serious money!New Zealand | New Thinking
Hi Rob
I would have it cut into slabs, seal the ends with sealtite or a similar product and air dry using stickers. Keep out of direct sunlight and put a cover board over the stack. Will take a year. Bob
Hi Bob,
Would you have it quartersawn as nwtimber suggests? And what I mean by that is sawing it as you would traditionally quartersaw a log?
Rob
How you attack a bur/burl depends on what you're cutting it for. There are a few trade-offs. Max width vs max figure is one. Quarter-sawn vs plain-sawn produces quite different figure in most burls. Sometimes hard to dry, tends to distort badly. Cut over-thick and dry slowly.
MalcolmNew Zealand | New Thinking
Hi Rob, quarter sawing will not result in any more wood stability since there is no grain pattern to consider in a burl. Therefore, saw it for maximum yield from outside in. Since I am also a turner I would cut it differently for bowls and turn it green as a rough out, then seal, then remount it when dry and do the final turning. Be certain to seal the end grain to retard drying and cracking. That will also result in less distortion of the wood. I would also suggest you use fresh wood for stickers and not one with a high tannic acid content, like oak, which can stain your wood. You can also use plastic stickers. Ideal storage for drying would be under a shed but with good air flow.
Bob
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