I've had these white pine burls for about ten years and its time to open them up and see whats inside. I am not sure of the best way to cut them to get the nicest patterns. Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to cut it up. Frank
Looks like a weird dumbbell. Lol. I've never done it myself but since burl is totally random i would probably cut it to get the most scales out of it and not even really worry about pattern. Really you probably won't know the pattern until you cut it. When you cut the slices off be sure to mark the order and orientation of each piece so that you end up with book "matched scales". maby someone else has more tips to add
Thanks Icho Ya it does look like a dumbbell. People say it looks like a brain on each end. I've cut a few maple burl pieces up and the pattern can change very quickly. I'm going to try to cut this pine into pieces that would be big enough for a large hidden tang handle. And if I need scales I can slit them down the middle and they should be matched. Hopefully I can find something nice inside and not ruin it with my first cut in the wrong place. I've tried this with maple and a lot of times one side of the block I cut is nice and the other side is very blah because of that first cut. Frank
Ya I've bought blocks of stabilized redwood burl and decided to cut it into scales. Probably a good way to do it with your piece. When I decided to slice mine up I stared at it for a couple hours trying to figure out which way to cut it. Lol
I have never used pine burls myself, but some people told me they don't have very nice pattern and they are almost useless... At least this is true for European pine. I'm really curious to see what pattern yours burls have. Please, let us know after you slice them.
I've heard that too Roman So I'm kind of curious to see what they look like. Could end up that I should have made a lamp. LOL
Well I cut them in half and then I cut up the smaller one in all kinds of directions and haven't found anything I like. They actually look better in the pics than in real life. Oh well now I know anyway. LOL Here are some pictures of it.
Thanks for sharing with us Grouch. It's good to know and see, not just hear from somebody. This sucks, but at least now you still have two halves of the big one and you can carve two nice bowls...
Roman I have too many projects on the go now LOL. I donated the big ones to the guy's at Canadian woodworker so they could find them a home with someone who could put them to good use.
