This was a chunk of wood sitting near the fire pit at camp. I was curious what it looked like inside so took about a 2 inch slab out of what was left. Unfortunately, I only had my firewood saw that was not that sharp so the finish is really bad and wavy. Maybe with a couple hours of sanding I will get something smooth and about 1 1/2 inches thick. The grain patterns are awesome! Now trying to figure out what to make- clock, small end table top or just a pretty wall hanger. Definitely going to leave the live edge.
Sanded and cleaned up the smaller slab. Sits real nice on the mantel. Since I just hosed it off will let it dry for a few days then maybe a few coats of oil based poly.
Wow- that is simply beautiful! Do you have a moisture meter? It would be good to know where it's at to ensure minimal checking/splitting if it has a while to go before stabilizing. If you're able establish a MC and it's high, I might suggest letting it soak in denatured alcohol to replace any water that might still be trapped....
No moisture meter. I know the wood has been down for at least 2 years, was cut around 2 ft in length and the side without the knot has been slowly split off. The knot is like steel - 3 cuts with my saw and the chain was throwing powder. It has been a little over an hour since I hosed and scrubbed and it is almost completely dry. I will have to get alcohol. In the meantime I wonder if wrapping it in a towel, putting in a black plastic bag and let sit in the the sun for will draw any H2O out. That way it maintains a high humidity.
Hmmmmm.... I don't think you want to do it that way. Even in a hi heat, hi moisture envelope I believe mold would grow. Will do a little more googleying later after family time lunch.
This is fantastic looking, like looking inside an inferno. Perhaps if someone doesn't burn woodeek:heaven forbid but they are there) could use this as a fireplace veneer setting, they would see that on the door or something with the right sealant. On another note I see these wood pieces make it to the market and even then they aren't always 100 percent used, the carving if done is cut away. Best to find this to be used with less cutting for full effect!
Amazing what nature can create. That grain is pretty nice. Even the smaller pieces are worth some money for wood turners.
I'm not really interested in trying to make money off of the burl. Very happy I was able to save it from the fire pit and have a few awesome slabs for my own and maybe a small piece for family. The is some left on the chunk. I may try to grab what I can once back up at camp. Definitely will need to drop the angle on one of my chains to 25 degrees so the chain stays sharp longer - it's hard stuff.
That looks awesome! I doubt you have to worry too much about it splitting. Burls have an irregular grain structure so the usual tension forces which lead to radial checking won't build up like they would in a "normal" piece of lumber. What could happen is some shallow surface checking - I'd try to keep it out of the sun and away from the fireplace for a while. In either case, if it does, it's only a "problem" if it happens to bother you. And if it does bother you, go ahead and send it to me. Awesome score.
Some minor surface cracks did occur - does not bother me a bit. I put one coat of oil base poly on one side and live edge and back on the mantel to dry a bit longer. I use up my final bit of sharpness and time last time. Heading back to camp this weekend. I think I can get on more larger slab off of what is left. Looks like the is still nice burl left. ( 4th pic from top - piece on the right). We have a pile of ends and maybe other knots or burls that the timber left for us as camp fire wood. I think that I'll take a good look and have a larger saw than 54cc handy - 288xp.
I found that the last piece that was left was only about 4 inches thick and was only good to about 1/2 thickness due to it being all cracked and split from us not knowing what is was and splitting off chunks for the evening fires. I do have a larger slab than the one pictured here but am leaving it alone until I find a good used or new belt sander. Using a 1/2 drill with a sanding disk just takes too long and is extremely hard to get perfectly flat even after using a palm sander. Did not find any other burls in the wood pile but do have quite a few very large diameter rounds and maybe a couple crotches that are anywhere from 3-6 ft long. They will sit for now, Fortunately, no one at camp has a large enough saw to tackle them.
That burl is sweet! I think that you should try making a clock that would be one great looking mantle clock!
