# Cutting up a burl



## tseger (Jun 21, 2006)

I have a red oak tree in my yard that has apparently died from old age. Some of the older people in my community have guessed the tree to be 250 years or more. I have cut two burls off the tree. One is about 18" and the other is 24". There is some rotting in the center of the big one, but only on the inside and in the center. What is the best way to cut it up into pen blanks? I have a small band saw, table saw, miter saw, all of which seem to be too small to handle this burl.
How do ya'll cut up the bigger pieces for pen blanks?


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## alparent (Jun 21, 2006)

Chain saw to manageble size, then band saw.


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## chitswood (Jun 21, 2006)

I've split logs with a maul(spell check) to make it smaller for the badnsaw.

Of course you want as little waste as possible if it is a good burl


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## Dario (Jun 21, 2006)

What Al said.

I am interested to see these burls...pics please []  I have a much small red oak burl...about 12" and can't bring myself to cut it up yet. [:I]


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## alparent (Jun 21, 2006)

Hey Chit! Are you talking about Darth Maul? Getting him to come over and split the log with the light sabre is sure to do the trick. []


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## tseger (Jun 21, 2006)

"Of course you want as little waste as possible if it is a good burl"
Chit, that is my main concern. I have turned some pens from the smaller burl and they are beautiful.


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## tseger (Jun 21, 2006)

"I am interested to see these burls...pics please"
Dario, I'll try to get a pic or two posted.


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## Dario (Jun 21, 2006)

Tim,

To minimize your waste, plan your cut.  The least chainsaw cut you make the better off you will be.  Also make sure that you make your cuts parallel as much as possible.  Angled cuts will generate too much waste.  Get the maximum capacity of your bandsaw and aim for that thickness wise.

On bandsaw...a fresh blade may save you tons of wood.  I've foolishly tried pushing the limit of my blades and most of the time I end up with irregular wood that is useless because of it.  Good luck!


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## Firefyter-emt (Jun 21, 2006)

You could always make a quick "burl box" and hand saw it into slabs. make a platform that has uprights in the center to hold maybe a bow saw. Then add one or two screws to the burl screwing it down to another board that can slide sideways in your jig. Now you should have fairly straight cuts and little waste. Once you have "slabbed" it down to size, then you can mill it on your band saw. A simple clamp can keep the board the burl is on from moving.  You could get real fancy and find yourself an old 2 man saw and get galootish all over that burl! []


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## tseger (Jun 21, 2006)

""To minimize your waste, plan your cut. The least chainsaw cut you make the better off you will be. Also make sure that you make your cuts parallel as much as possible. Angled cuts will generate too much waste. Get the maximum capacity of your bandsaw and aim for that thickness wise.

On bandsaw...a fresh blade may save you tons of wood. I've foolishly tried pushing the limit of my blades and most of the time I end up with irregular wood that is useless because of it. Good luck""!
That's what I'm needing to know. I can get it cut up, but I needed ideas on getting it cut up without loosing any more than absolutly necessary. I am very new at cutting wood,especially burls, into pen blanks and I knew ya'll could give me some tips to get more pen blanks out of the available wood


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## 53Jim (Jun 21, 2006)

&gt;I am very new at cutting wood,especially burls, into pen blanks and I knew ya'll could give me some tips to get more pen blanks out of the available wood

I am by no means an expert at cutting wood, but some pictures would help "the experts" give you some tips, as they could see what it is you have to work with.

Good luck


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## tseger (Jun 21, 2006)

I am working on some pictures right now. My digital camera just died, so I'm gonna have to use film and get them to a disk. Post as soon as I can.


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## airrat (Jun 22, 2006)

Tim when you want to quote someone just click on the 3rd icon in the top line of their post (where the time stamp is).  "Reply with Quote" It will make your post easier to read and people wont have to figure out where you start and the quote ends.

Expample:



> _Originally posted by tseger_
> <br />I am working on some pictures right now. My digital camera just died, so I'm gonna have to use film and get them to a disk. Post as soon as I can.



Hope this helps.  Looking forward to seeing pics, we made a shelf of red oak and love it.


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## Ron in Drums PA (Jun 22, 2006)

Tim please don't listen to these people here. They have no idea how to handle a burl properly. Please, please, send it to me and I will assure you that it will be taken proper care of. [][]

Seriously,  I never cut burl into pen blanks. especially burl that big.  I first cut burl into bowl blanks, box blanks, plate blanks, pepper mill blanks, etc.. (not necessarily in that order or all at one time) . Then, with the scrap, I cut into pen blanks. 

Remember, you can always cut a larger blank into pens blanks on a later date, but once it's a pen pen blank you are committed


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## ed4copies (Jun 22, 2006)

Ron makes some NICE bowls!!  And boxes!!  And pens!!!  Don't think I've seen his peppermills-where are THEY, Ron???


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## tseger (Jun 22, 2006)

> _Originally posted by airrat_
> <br />Tim when you want to quote someone just click on the 3rd icon in the top line of their post (where the time stamp is).  "Reply with Quote" It will make your post easier to read and people wont have to figure out where you start and the quote ends.


Thanks Tom, I wandered how ya'll did that!!The film is at wally world right now being processed, hope to have them up later this afternoon.
Probably will need help with that too. I have never posted a pic before.(I know, Shame on me!!!!!!)


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## Ron in Drums PA (Jun 22, 2006)

> _Originally posted by ed4copies_
> <br />Ron makes some NICE bowls!!  And boxes!!  And pens!!!  Don't think I've seen his peppermills-where are THEY, Ron???



Thanks Ed
I can't keep a peppermil long enough to take a picture of one.[]  I gotta get on the ball!


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## tseger (Jun 22, 2006)

I got the pics on my computer but I can't seem to post them. After I upload the pic, I get a "THE PAGE CANNOT BE DISPLAYED" message. What am I doing wrong (or not doing right)??


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## ed4copies (Jun 22, 2006)

Pic needs to be under 200kb (I think that's the new number, was 90).

Also can't have any symbols (the thingies above the numbers on the keyboard).  When you reduce the kb, MY computer renames it (small)- I then need to take away the brackets by renaming again!

See, wasn't that simple????!!!  Only took me about 20 times to get it right![][][]


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## tseger (Jun 22, 2006)

Ed, how do I reduce the image size?


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## tseger (Jun 22, 2006)

Ed, how do I reduce the image size???


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## Daniel (Jun 22, 2006)

Tim,
Ed must be busy, it's not that hard.
you need photo editing software like Microsoft picture it, Jasc paintshop pro. or any other editing program.
what you need to find is the resize option. different programs will ahve it in different menus, Picture it has it on a side menu listed as "size and position". Adobe photoshop has it under "Image" and then "Image size. Jasc Paint Shop Pro is also under "Image" and then "Resize". I also have one that came with my digital camera that is called fine pics viewer. so far I have not found a way to resize pictures in it. not all will. but as the above examples show you are looking for a way to resize the picture.
If you do not already have an editing program there are free ones available and others here can make recomendations. none of mine where free. some where real expensive.
you shoudl be able to decide if you want to resize according to how big a picture would be in inches. this woudl be good if you are going to print the photo and need to know how large it will be on the page. you can also resize by the number of Pixles the picture is. this is the one you want for posting pictures on the web.
for this group size the picture to be 600 pixels wide, this makes it fit real nice on the screen. also make the resolution 72 D.P.I. any higher is basically a waste.
there shoudl be a "Constrain"or"constrain ratio" button or something like that, what it does is keeps the length the same in realation to the width when you change the size. make sure the Constrain box is checked or the picture will get all stretched out of shape.
remember to save the resized image as a seperate picture. never change your original Image you may want to do other things with it later and will want the larger file to work with.
after saving the new smaller picture check to see that it actually is small enough. 90 kb for adding to posts. if not size it a bit smaller than the optimium 600 pixels. once you have the picture under the magic number you will be able to upload it to your posts.
good luck.


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## DCBluesman (Jun 22, 2006)

Check this link for resizing software...SIMPLE AND FREE! [8D] http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14936&whichpage=1#150524


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## wdcav1952 (Jun 22, 2006)

> _Originally posted by DCBluesman_
> <br />Check this link for resizing software...SIMPLE AND FREE! [8D] http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14936&whichpage=1#150524



I can prove that it is simple.  I can use it!!


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## tseger (Jun 22, 2006)

Daniel, thanks for the info
Lou, I downloaded the program and went to install it on my computer when I realized it was ONLY for windowsXP. I'm almost embarrased to say this but I am still using windows98.


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## Ron in Drums PA (Jun 22, 2006)

I just tested this site with this image, seems to work well

www.tinypic.com  copy and paste the  [ img ]


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## tseger (Jun 22, 2006)

I downsized the image to 84kb using Adobe Photo Deluxe,then tried to upload it and it still would not let me.    ????after the software changed the size it changed it to a "pdd" file. Could that be the problem???
Fellas, I really appreciate the help on this!!! I know it is probably getting old to some of you, but I need to figure out a way to do this.


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## DCBluesman (Jun 22, 2006)

Yup, Tim, that's your problem.  Open the photo in Adobe again, then save it as a JPEG file (.jpg).  This site only allows .jpg files.  And make sure the filename only has letters or numbers.  At 64K, you should then be fine!


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## tseger (Jun 23, 2006)

Ok I have no idea what the quality will be, but...
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	






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<br />
This is a pen turned out of the smaller burl.It had a good deal of spalting in it.



<br />
Thanks for all the help!!! I think I'll spend some time in the"Testing 1 2 3" section.


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## tseger (Jun 24, 2006)

Is it just my computer, or is one of the pictures not showing up?


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