# Maple burl question



## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

These pics are of a maple in a neighbor's yard. They just cut the tops off all the branches and are having the tree removed. I'm beginning to get some ideas looking at all the burl on the branches above the crotch lol. 























I've never cut my own lumber or had anything milled (I don't have milling capabilities beyond a chainsaw) and I'm not sure if it would be worth it to inquire about the tree's final destination & whether the lumber is spoken for. 

Largest branches look to be between 12-16" or so in diameter. Any thoughts?


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## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

Looks like it has potential. Grab all the burl branches. You could probably trade some of the burl for some milling on the pieces you want to keep. Gary


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

An interesting tree. Most sawyers in my area won't touch a tree from a front yard sor fear of hardware. My guy will try if you commit to 40$ per replacement plane if hardware is hit. 
I have chainsawed up some such trees to bandsaw size. Turners are often interested if the burl sections are good. What type of maple is the tree. I have seen box elder or "Manitoba maple" trees with such burling but not sugar or hard maple.
Good luck if you get it down.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Actually turns out its not maple. I erroneously assumed it was, as its surrounded by sugar maples and I didn't get a real up close look at it until yesterday. It's a honey locust, which I've never worked with before but I know a lot of guys turn it. The tree guys went just a little too far in pruning it apparently, and if it doesn't come back its coming down. So I wait.

My plan is to chainsaw it to manageable size and take it from there. Thanks for the input!


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

I'm not so interested in turning. I look for slabs and as wide as possible for table tops with thicknesses at a minimum of 2" on fresh wood. On burl, they are very touchy and once cut they tend to warp/twist/crack/etc and anything else they can do.
So to cut them even thicker and go into the drying process is better yet.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Da Aardvark said:


> I'm not so interested in turning. I look for slabs and as wide as possible for table tops with thicknesses at a minimum of 2" on fresh wood. On burl, they are very touchy and once cut they tend to warp/twist/crack/etc and anything else they can do.
> So to cut them even thicker and go into the drying process is better yet.


I'm not into turning either. When I saw the tree I thought, man that burl would make awesome tops for small tables. It appears as though I could get 2 nice 3" thick burled slabs out of each large branch. Can you kiln dry something that thick with crazy grain? I have zero experience in this area so any advice you could lend would be appreciated.


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## Nate Bos (Jan 11, 2012)

well, if you do cut it, post on the classifieds and in the turning section. I know it would be amazing for turning!


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

You can kiln dry it, but best to air dry until the internal moisture is down to around 20-25% and then finish it off in a kiln. This helps keep em straight, and really is true when drying any wood. Burl just has a mind of its own.
Cut em 3"+ thick . Keep em properly stickered and heavy weights stacked on top of them, to try and keep em straight. I've even bar clamped em together with multiple clamps.
It might take 6 months + before you get them in a kiln. Don't rush em. Even keep em weighted/clamped in the kiln. Get em down to <10% moisture (internal, not external...you have to do a test cut to check) before use.

When finished, you cant run burl through a planer. It will tear out chunks. You have to use a sander or a router jig to bring the surface down flat.


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