What would you do with this

["Jason Belous"]

I am looking for suggestion on what to do with this, i've been holding onto it for way to long. I have all means of cutting it up, so that is not a problem I just can't come up with a good plan for it. The facts- maple burl about four feet tall and three feet wide in the middle, weighs a whole lot. Any ideas or suggestions would be great.HPIM0717.jpg

[Lance Norris]

Bandsawn boxes... lots of them.

[Richard Dragin]

I don't have a lot of experiance with burls so take this for what it's worth....

Don't you have to cut it to know what you have? Once you start cutting it I'd think you would get a better idea of what to do with it. If you have large intact pieces some type of table top would be my first inclination. If it is only good for smaller chunks than perhaps turning blanks would be more appropriate.

["Jason Belous"]

Ok, so I don't do any wood turning, so I would only be cutting it up to sell of the spalted pieces. My thought was to build a chair that would be one solid piece. Rough cut it with a chainsaw and then about a hundred hours worth of hand shaping. I guess this would leave alot of chunks for the turners wolrd. Has anyone ever made a chair out of one solid chunk of wood?

[julie Graf]

that would be interesting - the chair out of a solid piece of wood. i've never seen one - there was a "bench" out of a solid piece at a festival in Pittsburgh - called "A Fair in the Park" maybe you could find pictures of it.. it was maple, i believe, and used the curves of the trunk for the arm and back area. pretty neat.

if you do it - post a pic!

[George Morris]

Wow nice . If you have any left you can it send to philly and I can turn you something? That is a good problem to have!! George

["Jason Belous"]

george I am starting to think that I should learn how to use my lathe!

[David Duke]

I know one thing, don't dare post this over in the turners forum..............all those spinny guy and gals will short out their keyboards with all the drool!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brett Baldwin]

Too late...there goes my keyboard.

A solid chair would be interesting but keep in mind the movement that will occur when you start cutting it. I would guess it would be substantial.

And save the offcuts for those loopy lathe guys. My address is....

[Tim Gruss]

In my experience maple burls that look similar to yours will have many dead wood inclusions threw out the piece. Burl wood being multi-directional grained with bark inclusions will not work for a chair. The reason it is used in veneer is because it is very weak/brittle.This is the reason for a stable substrate under Burl veneer. Turning the wood is desirable because of the non-directional grain,it turns like a dream. If an object is turned to thin it will break if dropped on a tile floor. I would use it for turnings,veneer,bandsaw boxes,jewelry,intarsia,knobs/handles. Just remember without opening the burl up you will not be able to decide what its potentials are. I have found that sometimes what is inside is just curly figure or not even worth my time based on the bark inclusions. Everyone values things differently. I have no problem getting plenty of burls so I can be selective on what I choose to use. Good luck with that burl.Tim

[Brodie Brickey]

I know one thing, don't dare post this over in the turners forum..............all those spinny guy and gals will short out their keyboards with all the drool!!!!!!!!!!!

Fighting a cold and seeing this? Clearly a violation of the Geneva convention on torture. The Hague has handed down the ruling already, I get the burl!


Seriously, no chair. Wood will be too weak. If you can split it with a bandsaw do so, otherwise cut it to the max dimensions of your bandsaw and go from there. Once open you can decide. Slab out a nice piece or two for matching end table tops. Look at the rest, and go buy a lathe.

Or fly out here to rainy California and use mine.