# how should i cut into a large carolina cherry burl?



## bonzo (Jan 18, 2008)

whats up fellas?...and ladies if there are any.

im new here and found this forum off of google. sorry about starting a new topic before i had even posted but im dyin' to get an answer to my question.

im a tree trimmer for my city in california. but before that i had been a carpenter since high school and was the forman of a cabinet shop. i recently removed two carolina cherry trees. both of which had massive burling.
one in particular had a burl at the top which at its largest point is about 3' in diamiter. the tree had been dead for quite some time, how long im not sure. but the trunk is completely dried out with no cracks. what im attempting to do is to hollow out solid shell snare drums. true hollow, which there are only a few companies that do this. and even more scarce is 100% burl wood solid snare drums. this is just for me for now. depending on how much work this turns into and how many pieces i lose will determine whether or not i'll attampt selling them. more than likely it wont be a money thing. if anyone can offer some assistance i would be very thankful.


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## bonzo (Jan 18, 2008)

i'll post some pics up later tonite.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

The Wood magazine e-newspaper that I just got said that to cut burls you cut with a flat slice. That give you the wood figure that is more like birds-eys if you cut it quarter-sawn then you get a ray pattern more like a tiger maple figure.

To cut the burls into drums you might only be working with the center of the real log and not get into much of the burl. You could probably cut some slices off to get to to the rough dimension that you need.


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## woodnut99 (Dec 17, 2007)

Hey, Bonzo Welcome. The people here are the Best!.... It's a lot of fun and endless source of knowledge!
I've massacred a burl three months ago, It took me two long days, and I managed to come out of it with some interesting sculpture slabs. But My technique needs A LOT of work…. Of course it may help to have the right tools for the job! Hope this spring ! Later. Patrick aka / woodnut99


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