WHAT ARE BURLS USED FOR? Because the pattern or grain of burl wood is so irregular and uneven and so different from straight lumber graining, burl is not used for structures or where bearing weight is required. Burl is typically made into veneer panels, inserts, and for furniture slabs and instrument making.
What do you do with wood burls?
A single burl block can be resawn and mounted on a substrate to make a small-to-medium sized veneered panel, or added as an inlay into a larger project to contribute visual interest. Luthiers often use burl tops for guitar bodies or headstocks, and turners love burl pieces to make smaller items like pen blanks.
Is burl wood rare?
If you’re not familiar, burls are growths that appear on trees and can form eye-catching patterns on their insides—think of it as a tree’s personal geode. The type of wood is rare and unique, and there’s something about it that just looks so elegant, glam, yet still is a bit edgy and unexpected.
What is a burl worth?
Why is a burl valuable?
Burls are valuable because of their beauty and rarity. They are used to make beautiful and durable woodworking and crafting projects. Burlwood is hard to produce in large quantities and most burl wood is found and harvested in nature in an uncontrolled environment.
Can you cut burls off trees?
You should never cut burl wood from a living tree. Excising a bit of its trunk can kill the entire plant. No matter how beautiful a burl you have found, you need to skip it if the tree’s still alive.
What is the rarest burl wood?
Sandalwood Burl is one of the rarest burls in the world. It is a true sandalwood, and is used in making sandalwood essential oil and sandalwood incense. This unusual kind of sandalwood is a native of Nepal, and these pieces were harvested from a sandalwood plantation in Tanzania.
How can you tell if wood is burl?
Observe any rounded growths projecting from or surrounding the trunk that have no protruding limbs or twigs. Look for growths that are darker in color than the rest of the bark. These qualities indicate burls.
What causes a burl to grow on a tree?
A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over.
What causes burls on oak trees?
In burl formation, the tree’s growth hormones get disrupted when the metabolism of the tree is hijacked by some other organism – a virus, fungus, or bacterium. The crown gall bacterium is responsible for many burls (although many are too small for woodturning).
What kind of wood is burl?
Burl wood comes from different types of trees. The most common are redwood, maple, walnut, oak and cherry. Every piece of burl wood is unique, and this is one reason they are considered rare and valuable. They come in a variety of sizes and have different grains and color of wood.
What does a burl look like on a tree?
They look like spherical bulges that are covered in bark. These unusual growths are known as burls. In some areas, they may be called burrs. They develop as irregular, wart-like outgrowths.
What causes a tree to have a burl?
A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over.
What is timber burl?
A burl is a growth that forms over a long period of time, to cover an injury that has occurred to a tree. An insect boring a hole into the tree trunk usually causes the injury. Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood, prized for its beauty by many; its rarity also adds to its expense.
What is Birch burl?
Burls, spherical woody growths on the trunks of spruce, birch and other trees, are commonly found throughout wooded parts of Alaska. Many are removed from trees and used for furniture making and for decorative roof or mailbox supports or just to set out in the yard as curiosities.05.10.1978
What is an eyed burl?
Burls are balloon shaped growths composed of swirls of grain laced with eyes. They are often sliced into veneer but can also be produced into solids.
Are burl walnuts expensive?
Solid hardwood furniture made from burled walnut is exceptionally expensive, but it is also very durable and long-lasting. Some furniture makers will create a piece out of a less expensive wood and use walnut veneer to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the piece without raising the cost too much.
What is cherry burl?
Cherry Burl is a domestic wood that is usually considered to be in the same class as mahogany for usage in the United States. It is described as wood for fine furniture. The stiff and strong wood is reported to work easily with both hand and machine tools.
What’s the difference between a burl and a gall?
Tumor growth in plants is commonly known as gall or burl. Galls contain knots, callus, ingrown bark and stains, whereas, burls are bark-covered and display wildly contorted grain. These tumors can occur on twigs, branches, trunks, roots, or leaves (like seen above) and might be numerous per host.
What is burl poaching?
Poaching redwood burls is a problem for Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP), in Northern California, USA. Poachers use chainsaws to remove and they sell them at local burl shops. Consequently, targeted trees are left susceptible to disease and can die.
Why do redwoods grow burls?
When a tree is stressed by drought, fire, wind damage or even old age, sprouts containing the exact genetic make-up of the parent tree will begin to develop from the burl. Burls ensure the redwood tree’s genetic future.
How do you get wood burls?
Harvest burls from fallen trees, or standing trees that need to be removed anyway. Burl wounds will usually heal, so you might possibly consider cutting “burl boards” (several thick slices of a larger burl to use in woodworking) from a healthy tree. But it’s still best to avoid cutting burls from healthy trees.
