Got A Burl ... Now What?

[tomscanio]

My wife and I kept going by a willow (I think) tree that had a big burl on it during our nightly walks in a nature area by our house. Well, we had some bad weather and the tree went down. I checked with the local folks, got permission, borrowed a chainsaw and I now possess the burl. Pictures are attached. BTW, I still have all appendages and digits after my first chainsaw experience.

I have no experience in this. I painted the cut area to retard excessive drying and checking but in less than two days there is some cracking evident in the photo. I think this is going along internal layers that overlay each other. I guess the internal stresses are letting go without the rest of the tree to hold them together.

I want to make a large bowl out of this and have a bunch of questions.

1) Can I do anything more to stop cracking or are the stresses just going to have their way?
2) I plan on debarking and establishing the outside first and cut away any areas that wouldn't be worthwhile. I will try to let the piece speak for itself though. The bowl will not be perfectly smooth. Then I plan on scooping out the inside roughly, let it sit for a while for drying and destressing, scoop and wait again, etc. until I get the sides down to maybe 1/2 inch. Is this the right method?
3) What tools are recommended for debarking and scooping out the inside? This may be a good opportunity to get more tools!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom Scanio

[jgrobler]

This is beyond me. I also often pick up free wood from trees that blow over, of are cut down, and some pieces are left for later cleanup.
The only advice I have, it seems you used regular paint to prevent the checking, that may hold maybe for a day, but if you don't have anything else, melt some parrafin wax (any grocery store, hardware store should have it) and paint that onto the cut surface area. You'll have to check (the "look at it" type) it once in a while, as it can get bubbles that breaks, causing further checking.

Johan

[conwaygolfer]

Willow

Having done tree work for over 30 years, I can tell you that a Willow tree is fast growing, short lived and full of water. I would imagine that as the wood is giving off all that water, it will crack open. It is a very soft wood.

I know nothing about "turning", but I would not think it would be a good wood for this? Simply because it is so soft. And this is a characteristic of all fast growing trees.

Thanks,
Conwaygolfer

[gerti]

No experience with willow burl, but I turned some willow a while back and it was not fun. Tear out like crazy, soft, not particularly stable. Of course burl is probably quite different. Hope it'll work for you!

[gsmittle]

WARNING! Totally OT Response

I have to get this out of my system or I might explode:

Doesn't the doctor usually lance a burl????

g.

[TB Roye]

2nd over the top response

Lance can't do it. He is riding his bike on an outing in France

Tom

[RayintheUK]

From your initial post, my guess is that you're not intending to turn the burl, but to carve it (so would I). Whatever you're going to do, the wood needs treating first in order to stabilize it as much as possible.

I would soak it in denatured alcohol, but it looks a little on the large size for immersion, without spending a fortune on D-NA. Still might be worth "bathing" it for a while in D-NA, in the open, of course, then allowing it to dry (the D-NA replaces the water in the wood, then evaporates).

Sorry to say, but you're going to experience cracking and checking in that piece of willow that may make the whole project a waste of time. Good luck with whatever you do with it!

Ray

[tomscanio]

Thanks for all the suggestions. This weekend I debarked it and rough sanded the exterior. It is was mostly white but some areas are getting a light tan color as it dries. The major cracks were along lines where branches penetrated or where it was attached to the main tree trunk. I cut out some branch waste and now I see what I've got.

I plan on getting a ball mill and die grinder to rough out the interior and I'll go from there. If it turns out at all nice, I'll post the results.

Tom Scanio