Black Knot

[thewoodlands]

We have a Cherry tree near the trail which has this, should I drop it or leave it up? This picture was taken off the net.



zap

 

[zeke]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...13&_nkw=cherry+burl&_sacat=See-All-Categories
seems to have some value...

 

[Thistle]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

 

[thewoodlands]

Not sure how far up it is Thistle, might take a trip back in on Sunday or late Saturday after working on the stacking area plus splitting some Cherry.

Zap

 

[Thistle]

I've gotten lucky a few times & had a small burl be solid & nice enough for a vase or bowl.The rarer large one or 2 I seen was unfortunately hollow though.Tap on the side with axe handle or stick & that will tell you a lot,its not 100% accurate however.

 

[LLigetfa]

We have a Cherry tree in out front yard prone to Black Knot and I've never seen it look like what you show in that pic. Also, it's never limited to just one spot. We routinely prune away any twigs that develop Black Knot.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/faq7622

 

[Pat53]

I've got those around here too. They are on almost all of the cherry I see that is over 15-20 years old. Weird.

 

[smokinj]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

Yep for sure check it!~

 

[nrford]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

And how praytell can you remove it with no damage to the tree???

 

[NH_Wood]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

And how praytell can you remove it with no damage to the tree???

I'm guessing Thistle is thinking the burl is on a limb, not the main trunk. Obviously some damage must occur, but if on a limb, the main tree can be saved. Cheers!

 

[smokinj]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

And how praytell can you remove it with no damage to the tree???

I'm guessing Thistle is thinking the burl is on a limb, not the main trunk. Obviously some damage must occur, but if on a limb, the main tree can be saved. Cheers!

Hes saying drop it and mill it! :lol:

 

[BobUrban]

I have turned bowls from Cherry burls but mostly use them for knife handles I forge. The toughest thing with even the best of burls is getting them dry w/o cracking. It is a long, long process to do it right and consistantly. Custom woodworkers that turn them on a lathe will dip them in parafin wax so that most of it cannot release moisture and it takes years.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

They are kind of neat so see zap. I'd probably leave it so long as it doesn't do any harm.

 

[smokinj]

I have turned bowls from Cherry burls but mostly use them for knife handles I forge. The toughest thing with even the best of burls is getting them dry w/o cracking. It is a long, long process to do it right and consistantly. Custom woodworkers that turn them on a lathe will dip them in parafin wax so that most of it cannot release moisture and it takes years.

Yes it does so does a 3 inch slab though! 1 year per inch of wood thickness!

 

[thewoodlands]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

And how praytell can you remove it with no damage to the tree???

I'll grab a picture for Sunday, I'm thinking it's on the main trunk.


zap

 

[billb3]

I've got one quite like it behind my house.

Many people who try to grow plums cut cherry down just to try to get the number of spores down as they will infect plum trees, too.

 

[clemsonfor]

Black cherry is susseptible to it. Most in this area have it and seldome develope to a nice tree. Quality cherry is not usually found this far south. It exists but not like in kentucky and pen and NC and Va.

 

[fishingpol]

Here is what I did to my cherry burl. The defined grain is almost non-existent in the burl, nooks and crannies all over the place. It is a little difficult to carve, but the finished product is an eye-catcher...

 

[clemsonfor]

Is that a wrench grown into the top of that burn?

 

[fishingpol]

Nope, apple wood neck for the snail, and brass hinges for the eyes. Here is a better view of the front.

 

[amateur cutter]

That piece of work is just plain cool. A C

 

[fishingpol]

Thank you. I don't want to hijack the thread here. I'm going to begin carving a bunch of pieces in the similar style using burls, tiger maple, and white oak that has a compressed zig-zag grain. The snail was the start of this road. I don't have much access to trees, but I'm finding pieces in the firewood stacks. I have about a dozen splits that will not make to the stove, but will end up something pretty neat to look at for years to come. I am very interested in using unusual wood grains in my pieces.

I'll also admit the eyes are actually toilet seat hinges. :sick:

 

[firefighterjake]

So far the two burls I've cut out of cherry trees were pretty much rotten in the core and not worth anything.

 

[billb3]

I've never found a burl that wasn't crumbly loose fiber inside, either.
I hit one accidently on an oak tree last Summer with the tractor bucket and that wasn't solid either.


I've had some artist friends lament and whine over some cherry splits that "would have been great" for carving and save some but they never come get them.
My niece has a "fantastic" round of cherry she took to "do something with" and it has been on her deck untouched for 12 years.

 

[thewoodlands]

You never know until you cut into a burl whether its hollow & worthless or solid & possibly a treasure.How far up is it? If its not up very high you can remove it with no damage to the tree.Unless you were planning on dropping it anyway.

Thistle, the first three pictures are the same cherry tree, it's up the tree pretty good. The last picture is a smaller cherry tree just down the trail.

zap