Burl Hunting

Maple burl and my dad

Black birch burl

Birch burl cut open, once its cleaner you will see it pop!

Today me and my old man went out to the land he owns in search of burls.  What are burls you ask, well they are large irregular growths on the sides of trees as a result of some sort of disease or abnormality in the tree.  These growths do not necessarily kill the tree but they do ruin that area of lumber for normal uses, but for a wood turner they are gold!  The internal structure of a burl is extremely complex and are often used for specialty applications like high-end veneers, fly fishing reel seats, inlay and in this case they will be turned into beautiful bowls.  I took some pictures of the quest and the 2 burls we found and harvested.  The football shaped burl that my dad is holding is from a Maple tree that was just about dead, and the other one is from a black birch.  I will post some more pictures of the burls as they are dissected and turned on the lathe later this week.

Hello World

Hello world and welcome to my blog.  My name is Bob and I am a High School Woodshop teacher and an amateur woodworker trying figure out how to make a little money doing something I like to do anyway.  This blog will be a way I can let anyone interested know what is going on in my world and also show some of the work I do.  I hope you enjoy the blog and I will be writing very soon.