Burr specialists?

[wills-mill]

Morning all, looking for a bit of advice.

I'm giving a fellow mobile sawyer a hand over the weekend with an enormous oak that has sadly been felled so that re-development of a house and garden can take place near Walton on Thames in Surrey.
While it's not the burriest trunk I've ever seen in terms of coverage, there are probably 8 or so enormous individual burr clusters measuring probably 2ft square (each) and depths that seem to range from 16in to 2ft. We'll have the capability on site to remove these whole before the milling starts, but we're both scratching our heads a little to find a sensible market for them.
I can't imagine one individual buying the whole lot (maybe I'm wrong), so who can you recommend that may be interested or able to cope with such a volume. I'm loathe to mill them into slabs that I would consider appropriate sizes only to be told that I should have left them alone for some specialism!

Pics to come Saturday night probably.....

 

[woodbloke]

If the burrs are that big, they could be sliced up for veneer, but I have no idea how you'd go about that...probably quite valuable though - Rob

 

[wizer]

I would be interested in some Will. Both in plank form and cubes for turning.

 

[Chris Knight]

I suggest you give Timberline at Tonbridge a call. He is usually very well informed/helpful and if he doesn't want it, can probably suggest what to do with it.

http://www.exotichardwoods.co.uk/Contact_Us/index.asp

 

[NickWelford]

I'd love a couple, whole.

 

[Doug B]

i`d post this in the turning section, you might find some takers in there.

 

[woodsworth]

Those burs will be well sought after, that's for sure! mmm just thinking of the things i could make with them.

 

[jimi43]

I would be interested as well if you can work out a price.

Robert at Timberline is an excellent idea also (after you have exhausted all sales on here OF COURSE! :wink: )

Anyone see the newsletter of the Bog Oak he sent out this week...I phoned him...he is fair raving about it...and that is very unlike Robert as he is not prone to exaggeration!

Jim

 

[shinken]

and i would also be interested bud!

 

[miles_hot]

I too would be interested

Miles

 

[markymark12]

Morgan Timber often buy burrs for veneer production. But do not get too excited by the thoughts of lots of money, dealing with small amounts is expensive and often not worth the time. Unless you are taking to the door of the buyer
Good luck

 

[big soft moose]

peter helmsley at toolpost might well be interested in buying them to resell if you asrent after splitting them down yourself

 

[wills-mill]

Thanks folks, that's all encouraging. I'd be happy to run things around in the South East so will ring around some of the specialists and see what they think.

I'll get some idea of the dimensions and numbers involved and let the forum have a little dig first (obviously! I know which side my bread is buttered)....


Interestingly we did knock out some burr oak veneer slices with the Wood Mizer for a team of furniture restorers based near Windsor a couple of years back. Originally they just wanted the burr trimmed down to size as they were going to send it to a firm in Holland who charge by the kilo. In the end we did the whole thing, it turned out very well considering.

 

[wizer]

Do you get burrs often? I take it not, from what you've said?

 

[wills-mill]

Do you get burrs often? I take it not, from what you've said?

Only tiddlers usually, I do see a fair few pippy oaks when milling for clients, but it's not my timber so I don't decide how it's cut. I've got a bit of burr Sweet Chestnut and a some Robinia burr, but they're nothing particularly large in size nor are they numerous in number.

Edit: (slight grrrr) just need to upload the photos of the big day, might take a while.............

 

[wills-mill]

Apologies for size of images and lack of action shots, it was quite a hectic day in many ways.

The beginning of the day-

A particularly sad end to what must have been a magnificent tree full of character. A big ogre-y beast of a tree, just what makes our untidy countryside so special. As you can see she'd had no rest for the last hundred years- first a house dumped onto half the roots, then a tarmac drive slapped over the other half, then a drippy heating oil tank to try and finish her off :x

James getting all excited as the big toys come out. To left of photo a Stihl 066 (now MS660), on the right an 084 (now an MS 840). Almost essential for something of this size, also helped along by the minidigger and the portable Lucas Mill which will come along later.

First job, sever the lowest portion that removes most of the decay, a good portion of the burr and also allows room for the mill's cutting head.

Next, nibble off a small portion of burr.

 

[wills-mill]

A liberated chunk, probably 200kgs?
Quite often I get this feeling that dealing with large trees is more akin to quarrying than delicate technical woodmanship- the type of thing taught to you as a forestry student heading out into a neat and tidy world populated by regimented softwoods.

Loading the first chunks. When you consider that the trailer is 6ft6in wide, you start to realise the sizes and weights involved.

If you cut me, do I not bleed? Working around the 'back' of the tree, just trimming back some off the old storm damage and old pruning lumps and bumps to give the sawmill an easier time. Not burry at all, but lots of the usual wonderful character of an Oak grown out in the open.
The dribbling wound was a sealed cavity full of around a gallon of dirty tannic water and sludge that burst out on me as I opened it up with the saw. Just one of those little practical jokes that Oaks play on the unwary in order to get the last laugh.

 

[wizer]

great pics!

 

[wills-mill]

Setting up the Lucas Mill, a very different piece of equipment to the Wood Mizer that I operate. Designed specifically to be carried and wheeled into small spaces, and they absolutely thrive on huge trees that aren't going to wobble and roll around as they are cut.

The heart of the beast- A very clever TCT blade of around 20in diameter with a mere five teeth. Incredibly deep gullets to carry out lots of sawdust and some clever shaping of the disc of the saw to act as a limiter to each tooth. We were apprehensive; the promised blade that was fully sharpened and tensioned had not arrived in time, and the ones on site were either dull and chipped or sharp but not tensioned We hoped for the best.

Fully set up around the remaining 14ft length of Oak.

In operation it all looks fairly lethal to start with, until you realise that the operator (if we can assume an iota of common sense) doesn't get into a position where they can get into the blade's path. we struggled with a blunt blade, then tried the sharp blade, but in truth the saw was struggling, the cuts wavy and the blade complaning so we tidied up for the day.

The cunning part of the Lucas is that the blade is swung through 90 degrees at the end of each pass and on the return cut through the tree it cuts out waste waste or board with a nice square cut. Pass after pass nibbles through the tree in a very tidy manner (blades permitting), limited only by the 8in depth of cut of the blade, so once you've got a flat surface to the log every pair of passes up and down the tree can yield a 1x1, 6x2 or theoretically an 8x8, although in knotty timber you're advised to take several cuts to run at full depth.

 

[wills-mill]

The important ritual, observed occasionally through the day- a quick sharpener for man and machine, one caffeine based and t'other a 13/64ths file from Switzerland. I'm very proud of my little Ash tool trug, it's served well and suffered much abuse.

Ready for the road. Certainly well over a tonne. I'll have a measure up and let everyone know the sizes fairly soon.

What would the general preference be in terms of practical use and handling? Sawn through with the bandmill into 3,4,5in slabs? Or left large and uncut?
I'm not in a rush to cut anything any further, but general opinions and a bit head scratching would be great.

Many thanks. Will.