birch burl?

[vbasscustom]

i beleive i may have a birch burl on my hands, well, under the ground, i was just wondering if you guys think this looks like it might be a burl?

[rdcalab]

Birch crotch and burl??? Cut that sucka open

[Woodpecker]

Well, if that ain't burl I'm Donald Duck
Is the tree fully grown and healthy? If it's still in good shape it might be a shame to cut it down.
Is the burl part big enough for some body tops?

[Cy_Miles]

Originally Posted by Woodpecker

Well, if that ain't burl I'm Donald Duck
If it's still in good shape it might be a shame to cut it down.

That is an excellent point, and a good arborist can take a core sample and see what it is like inside.

A couple weeks ago a wind storm knocked down a big maple in my neighborhood, and even though it look healthy from the outside, the entire 4' diameter trunk was a spongy ants nest, all except the outside 2". I wish I'd had an alaskan mill handy. It had some nice curl up higher where there was more good wood.

[vbasscustom]

i dont plan to cut it down, mainly because my dad would destroy me, lol. but im going to dig down around it to see what i can find, if it is infact large enough to work anything out of.

[erikbojerik]

Originally Posted by Cy_Miles

I wish I'd had an alaskan mill handy. It had some nice curl up higher where there was more good wood.

That's when you go rent yo bad self a chainsaw and have at it.

Birch is REALLY soft - a birch burl would be like building with balsa wood.

[vbasscustom]

could a soaking in epoxy cure that maybe?

[RedLeg]

I am not a luthier.

That being said, scottyd coated my buckeye burl headstock veneer with CA so that the tuners wouldn't dig in to it.

Now I do build r/c planes and can say that really "thin" CA will wick much better into wood than any viscous epoxy. I have seen that zap pink label penetrate up to 1 inch into balsa then smoke (well, fume) when it cured in a few seconds. But it doesn't fill voids at all.

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Not to go to far off topic, but I have an enormous maple tree in my back yard. I often wonder what the wood would be like for instruments.

It has to be well over 100 years old.
The trunk, after a couple of feet breaks off into four leaders.

How would one find out if this tree is of any value. I once had a landscaping company come take a look at it to do some trimming and they wanted close to $2000.00, which included taking the two middle leaders out.

I really know nothing of the process how quality wood gets to instrument builders, but if there are "specialist" of any kind it would be good to know.

Thanks!


EDIT: Just to clarify myself.

I'm not looking to make money off this tree.
Mostly seeking knowledge for when/if the time ever comes and it needs to be taken down.

[vbasscustom]

you would have to ghave an arborist come in and take core samples the entire length of the tree. not sure how much it would cost or anything, but it would probably be a good investment, if the tree is worth using. because thats alot of neck blanks.

[erikbojerik]

In going from tree -> lumber:

1 - recognize at the start that it will probably be 2 years minimum between when the tree falls and when you can start using the wood. If that's a no-starter, then don't start. If that's OK, then be ready for irregularities when you slice it open - you can have ants nests, rotten centers, hidden knots, old nails - you name it. Don't go into it expecting the kind of instrument wood you see at LMI or at a typical hardwood dealer, which has been culled and graded (eliminating LOTS of trees) before getting to you.

2 - chainsaw the trunk to lengths that are pre-planned (i.e. bodies, neck blanks, neck-thru blanks). Longer leaves you more options open but also more difficult to handle.

3 - chainsaw (or portable timber bandsaw) the trunks quartersawn. If you're looking at the end of the trunk, think of slicing the trunk up like a pie instead of just slabs (quartersawn is more difficult to do than slab sawn). Try very hard to maintain even thickness, and forget about using the center of the trunk (pith).



4 - IMMEDIATELY wax the endgrain and then stack & sticker it - stack the slabs with sticks (of uniform thickness) between them so air can flow all around every slab. If you don't wax the endgrain you'll get end checks (cracks) that can run for as long as 1-2 feet into the board. You'll need to build up the stack indoors - if you're in a tropical area, an un-airconditioned garage can function as a low-grade kiln in summer!

5 - wait - and wait - and wait. Minimum 1 year per inch of thickness, 2 years/inch is better for air-dried. Invest in a wood moisture gauge and wait until you're at 8% or lower moisture content before using.

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Thanks!
Lots of good info.


I guess the most logical step would be to have a professional arborist come in and take a look at it. If taking core samples is the only way it's probably not worth checking into only because the tree would already have to be cut down. At this point I'm not sure what to do. It's a love hate relationship with this tree. Love the shade, hate the maintenance, plus it's in need of some care right now.


Assuming it's a good tree, which I believe it does have ants, but assuming it is okay. Is there a way of telling if a maple tree has high grade wood without cutting it down first? For example if there is some quilting, or flame. Perhaps because it's older maybe even spalted.

Common sense tells me one would probably have to see a slide of the trunk. Just wondering if a pro would be able to give me a yay or nay within any kind of certainty.

Thanks again.


vbasscustom, sorry for the hijack.
It's an Interesting subject.




EDIT:
Okay, did a little google'n.
Found out that figured maple is only found on the "broad leaf" maple tree. Mine, more than likely is a sugar maple which is very common to my area.

Well, still would like to know if (eventually) getting the right people to look at this tree would mean it becomes bass parts, (or furniture, etc.) rather than fire wood.

[Rickett Customs]

Originally Posted by vbasscustom

could a soaking in epoxy cure that maybe?

It would make the moisture almost impossible to escape though.

An additional way to dry, would be to gauge the moisture level as well, periodically weigh it, for
once the weight stabilizes, you're pretty close to dry. you could just sticker the current weight and
update it as it dries more.

[pilotjones]

I was looking at the base of a tree yesterday - it was a massive, tortuous blob, maybe 4 feet in diameter and coming up to two feet above the ground - and thinking how it might provide some amazing wood some day. Then I went around the tree and saw from the other side that this whole thing was hollowed out.

[erikbojerik]

You won't find quilt figure in eastern maples, only flame & birdseye.

You can tell if you observe the outermost wood underneath the bark - but removing enough bark will probably kill the tree. For the most part, flame figure will appear where there is continual stress imparted to that part of the trunk - often at crotch areas, and at the base of trees that are exposed to windy conditions.

[Tdog]

The Birch burl that I have see over the years is fairly un-spectacular.