How to process birch burl. What are the growths on trees called? What is chaga

Views: 31079

15.05.2017

The tree is the most common plant on earth.

Nature is incredibly generous, since it has given a person not only the opportunity to admire the beauty of trunks and leaves, but also to derive practical benefits from wood, because for several thousand years people have been using wooden products in their everyday life, building houses, boats, making furniture and household utensils, producing musical instruments, crafts, etc.

To date, there is no material that can completely replace the wonderful natural properties wood, since its density, color, texture, texture pattern and shades are unique in each case.

The natural uniqueness of the wood pattern is especially evident in cape And suveli(spherical or teardrop-shaped growths on trees), which pundits identified as diseases.

These formations create a complex enchanting pattern of wood fibers inside, consisting of an interweaving of colored lines, spots, inclusions, smoothly flowing into each other, which thus form a pattern of special beauty. Thanks to the richness of colors and lines, both burl and suvel are excellent natural material for the production of various crafts, decorations, and interior items, since they have an exclusive texture (it is impossible to find two identical patterns in nature) and special strength and durability.

Let's try to determine how burl and suvel differ from each other, and what they have in common.

Cap

Cap ( caporoot or as it is also popularly called " witch's broom") is a round, benign formation on a trunk or branch with a large number of woody nodules. The cap is precisely different from the suveli in that it has on its outside many cones that are created thanks to accessory and dormant buds. These formations look like dark spikes and tubercles, which is why, often on the burl, you can see small shoots and twigs growing directly from it.

According to some scientists, a burl on a tree occurs as a result of either a sharp change in the development of the plant, that is, it can have both a natural and anthropogenic cause. Some scientists believe that the appearance of an ugly tumor on a tree may be a hereditary deformity.

Burl is found mainly on deciduous trees, such as oak, linden, maple, alder, poplar, walnut, but most often it can be found on birch.

It has been noted that on average, for one tree with a burl, there are from three to five thousand trees without such formation, so finding a good burl (unlike suveli) is quite difficult.

Most often on trees there is a root burl, which can simply be gigantic size.

Usually, caporoot It has a faint texture inside and a weak color contrast pattern.

A burl formed on a branch often has the shape of an irregular ball and, unlike a bonnet root, when cut transversely, its internal texture is replete with patterns with the cores of knots and has a peculiar “needle-like” structure in the form of a small ornament with dashes and dots. The internal fibers of wood intertwine with each other in different directions, creating a picturesque pattern, and inclusions of dormant buds make the texture even richer, so burl is most often used as a decorative element in the manufacture of various crafts, knife handles, gun butts, original dishes and other souvenirs.

Due to the strong density of its texture and the huge number of knots, the burl is not easy to process, but at the same time it is perfectly sanded and polished.

The main color of the internal texture of the burl is various shades of black or brown, ocher. Even if you take two halves of the same burl, they will still be different and have a different pattern, the structure of the build-up is so heterogeneous.

The wood of the burl is stronger than that of the suveli, and fifty to seventy percent stronger than that of the tree on which it was formed.

Small items are also made from burl: boxes, cigarette cases, hairpins, earrings, bracelets, and small jewelry.

There is no point in creating a carved pattern on the burl, since the texture and texture of the wood is beautiful in itself.

Suvel

The formation of suveli is caused by a tree disease (cancer) and it most often represents a growth twisted and woven into a lump, which is why it is also called let's svilem.

Typically, the wisp grows two to three times faster than the tree itself and has a teardrop-shaped or spherical shape located around the trunk or branch. The main difference between suveli and burl is that it is formed not from dormant buds, but due to the complex interweaving of annual rings curved in different directions (hence the name svil). By this feature, cones on a tree can be easily distinguished from each other.

Growths (especially on birch) are quite common, although the reason for its formation has not been fully studied. Presumably, the formation of a tangle can be initiated by a fungus or mechanical damage to the tree bark.

Suvel (popularly called wood bone), since its cut resembles the stains of marble (with the same iridescence and radial section), and the thin parts are visible through and look like bone, although the density of the tissues, as mentioned above, in suveli is less than in burl, so its wood is less durable.

A suveli growth can grow to gigantic proportions (for example, in the Vatican there is a font carved from a single piece of wood). However, the finer the pattern, the richer and brighter the pattern inside, although the pattern with ornamental elements will in any case be softer (without the “spikes” and “needles” patterns required for a burl).

The internal texture of suveli has a delicate pearlescent tint, and the colors of each can vary greatly and contain white, yellow (resembling the color of amber), as well as brown, pinkish and green colors. The shade of suveli depends on where the tree grows and how it is dried.

You can form a suvel yourself; to do this, just tie a tree trunk or branch with wire. At the site of the constriction, a convex formation created by annual rings will soon appear.

Suvel also lends itself well to processing, can be sanded and polished well, and its mother-of-pearl cut, reminiscent of marble, plays with streaks, has a unique texture and seems to glow from within.

Of course, it is impossible to determine how beautiful the pattern will be based on the appearance of the suveli, but the more clumsy and twisted the growth looks externally, the richer its texture and pattern will be inside.

The root (butt) part of suveli is considered the most valuable. It is of interest to woodcarvers, artists, knife makers, sculptors and cabinetmakers, who choose this material for its exclusive cut pattern, high strength, resistance to rotting and unique processing ability.

Finding and preparing growths

Naturally, it is necessary to look for bulges on a tree in the forest. At the same time, many people confuse burl and svil with a similar mushroom from the genus (Inonotus), which most often lives on birch and is called chaga or black birch mushroom.

You need to learn to determine where the mushroom is and where the growth is.

The best time to cut down saplings and burls is in the fall (September-October), when the trees stop the natural movement of sap and begin preparing for winter.

It must be remembered that without a good saw, suvel or burl, especially if they are very clumsy, it is not easy to cut down, so this work is best done with a chainsaw, but it must be remembered that the tool chains quickly become dull due to the special strength of the build-up.

If you don’t have a chainsaw, you’ll have to work with a hand saw, but it should have sharp, well-sharpened teeth so that the master doesn’t torment himself or the tree, and doesn’t injure it in vain.

The cut area (to avoid the formation of an unwanted hollow for the tree) must be immediately covered with garden varnish and painted over oil paint or cover it with clay.

When a massive caporoot, it must be remembered that cutting it is fraught with serious consequences for the tree and as a result of the injury it may die.

All of the above properties of both burl and wood elevate these unique materials to the pinnacle of value among other types of wood, since they are used both in the finishing of various utilitarian items, as well as jewelry, small plastic items and tableware.

Cap, suvel. Harvesting, drying, properties.

The author of this material is a great specialist in the artistic processing of wood (and not only wood), already familiar to us from Sergei from the Moscow region. Today Sergey will reveal a secret to readers quick drying so rare and interesting materials, like cap and suvel. The information is very rare and useful. Reading...

So first, let's define some concepts.
KAP - (aka witch's broom) is a benign formation on a tree, which is a bunch of thin branches growing from a teardrop-shaped (most often) growth. When viewed cross-section, it has a texture with pronounced knot cores. It is difficult to process due to its highly curled texture and a huge number of knots. Extremely beautiful, durable, perfectly sanded and polished.
Numerous individual areas have a pearlescent tint. Bolshoi industrial value does not have, but is valued very highly because of its beauty. If it is used in industry, it is only in the form of veneer for finishing furniture (burls from exotic tree species are mainly used), as well as the production of small products such as boxes, cigarette cases, women's hairpins, and small jewelry (birch burls). Use on knife handles is considered good taste, and is also valued by wood carvers for its unique texture.
It is impossible to find two identical pieces of burl; even the halves of a sawn burl have different patterns, the build-up is so heterogeneous. It grows on many trees (linden, alder, birch, maple, oak, etc.), but the most valuable and beautiful is birch (of those growing in our latitudes). The growth is usually small, maximum the size of a volleyball ball or the size of a large plate.
There is no point in cutting any pattern on the burl, since the texture clogs everything up.
The photo shows a birch burl. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a cut of a birch burl (I took these pictures near my native police station and, as you understand, they wouldn’t let me cut anything down there... But I contrived and found an ash burl; most of the burls are similar in texture and only differ color and size of the knots’ cores. Let’s see:

SUVEL - (aka svil) As is clear from the name, the growth received its name because of its structure (twisted structure, that’s putting it mildly). Suvel is a drop-shaped or spherical growth on a tree (there is also a ring variety that covers the tree trunk around the perimeter), usually grows 2-3 times faster than the tree itself. When cut, it has a texture similar in pattern to marble and mother-of-pearl (this is the main sign of difference from KAPA; in the future, do not confuse suvel and burl).
The presence of mother-of-pearl stains on polished wood creates a beautiful shimmering picture that glows from within. Svil is also poorly processed, like burl, but not as hard. The size varies from a nut to 1.5 meters in height (I myself saw one on a birch tree) and up to 2 meters in diameter (a ring suvel that completely covered the tree trunk). In the Vatican there is a font much more than a meter in diameter, carved from a single piece of suveli. I myself was once sitting in a chair carved from suveli. It holds fine threads perfectly, but cutting suvel is not recommended. It is better to sand and varnish (impregnate with oil). The product will only benefit from this.
The most valuable is the root or butt fork. The presence of dark veins and clearly defined twisted annual rings. This is a fairytale. BEAUTIFUL, that says it all. Barrel suvel has a finer texture and a more subtle “frosty” pattern. And lighter wood. In terms of strength, butt suvel is slightly superior to trunk suvel due to the structure of the tree trunk. Suvel is durable, beautiful, easy to polish and sand. Well-dried and treated, it begins to “glow” from the inside (with proper impregnation with oils, the wood becomes like amber and even a little transparent). Usually has a color from soft yellow to pinkish-brown to completely ocher-brown. It all depends on the conditions and drying time. The cap has the same colors.
Photos:

As you can see, the cap is not at all similar to suvel.

CHAGA is a mushroom (not to be confused with the tinder fungus!!!) and we do not need it for our purposes.

So, how to dry it. I’ll say right away that the “steaming” method is suitable for small pieces of wood. About half the size of a football or a small log.

1. We cut off the growth. We do this with a sharp saw. Otherwise, you will get tired of sawing, and the tree will begin to become shaggy. We do not peel off the bark. Don't forget to cover the cut on the wood with oil paint or wax or something similar.

IT IS PREFERABLE TO CUTT OUT THE GROWTH DURING THE DRY TIME OF THE YEAR, IDEAL AT THE END OF AUGUST, THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER, BEFORE THE COMMONATION STARTS.

2. Take an unnecessary pan (bucket) and throw a piece of wood there. The pan is absolutely unnecessary, since during the cooking process a very tricky broth is formed which is then very troublesome to wash off. It is better to clean the wood of any rags of birch bark and other fragile and dangling pieces. they will still fall off.
I'm considering exactly birch growth, as the most affordable and beautiful, the remaining growths are cooked using the same technology. The log is accordingly cleaned of any debris and fragile particles. Pour water. It is convenient to do this with a faceted glass (it contains 250 ml). The water should cover the piece of wood by about a centimeter or two. The tree naturally floats up, but let’s press it to the bottom and we’ll see everything. It doesn’t matter what kind of water you pour, cold or hot, it will still boil. You can throw a piece of wood into a saucepan as much as you like, the volume of an individual piece of wood is important and not the total volume of wood.

3. Take table salt, whatever you don’t mind. We're not making soup. For a liter of water, pour 2 large tablespoons of salt (who will count glasses of water??? Eh?). You can do more, as much as you like, it’s okay, it’s impossible to overdo it.
The main thing is that the water is sickly salty. You can use clean sea water (precisely clean, otherwise it will smell disgusting of mud).
The salt will draw sap from the tree, but will not saturate the tree.

4. Find sawdust of resinous wood. Spruce and pine are the easiest to get. Take a saw and go ahead. We need two powerful handfuls of sawdust (raking the sawdust with both hands). Precisely sawdust, not shavings from a simple hand plane.
The shavings will come from an electric planer (you can get them at the nearest sawmill or plan them yourself). I always use them. They are quite small and are usually plentiful and easy to obtain. The more resin in the sawdust, the better. And the finer the sawdust, the better. Pour into a saucepan. You could have taken a bigger saucepan! Sawdust will give the suveli a pleasant ocher color. From soft pink-yellow to ocher-brown. Resins will also add strength to the wood and reveal texture.

5. When the water boils, reduce the heat and leave it simmering for 6-8 hours, longer if you have the patience.
If the saucepan is large, then you don’t have to turn down the flame, let the water boil and bubble. But you need to watch so that the water does not boil away completely. Salt, sawdust, temperature and time will do their job. Add water as needed. During the cooking process, a red “broth” is formed. And scale. It is better to remove scale immediately. It is very difficult to wash off.

6. 6-8 hours have passed (depending on the size of the piece of wood). We take out the piece of wood. We rinse under running water to remove sawdust. We dump the water from the pan as unnecessary, but you can leave it for next time if you have somewhere to store it. But it's easier to pour out the water. We throw the growth onto the cabinet, wrapping it in nothing. Let it cool for a day or two.

7 We repeat the process of cooking and drying 2-4 times depending on the volume of wood.
To speed up the process, you can use a pressure cooker. The time is reduced to 4-6 hours.

8. During the last cooking, you need to quickly peel off the bark while the tree is hot. Although she herself should fall off by this time. Carefully!!! Hot!!! use gloves!

9. We throw it on the closet for a week or two. The tree is basically already dry, but let the remaining moisture go away.
The tree will “get used” to the atmosphere. After final drying, the wood will become bone-like and can be cut, sawed, or sanded. There will be no foreign smell. It will only smell like wood.

10. During the process of accelerated drying of wood, it must be remembered that small cracks may appear, and therefore it is necessary to allow allowance for their removal in subsequent processing.

11. Where to look for growths... Naturally in the forest. BUT! There are no specific places of growth, they grow spontaneously, and the biggest and most beautiful growths will be found by the most big-eyed and persistent. This activity is akin to mushroom hunting; whoever ran around the forest further and further got more.
Look like that's it. I remind you once again that large pieces cannot be dried like this. Cracked. Necessarily. Verified.

12. After the wood has finally gotten used to the atmosphere, you can start working with the workpiece. It is advisable to soak the suvel and cap with oil, and if desired, with wax too. The wood will reveal its texture, it will “play,” as they say, and all its inner beauty will appear.

If you have any questions or any clarifications about the technology described above, I will answer to the best of my ability.

I’ll end with this, your Serjant.

Material, which has long been known in Russia as wood bone.
This is a growth, see photo 1, (or influx, as it is also called) on Birch, which forms on a tree trunk along various reasons. For example, weather, climate impacts environment. Also, this effect can be achieved artificially by wrapping the trunk, for example, with wire; over time it will become overgrown with Suvelya. It was called bone due to the fact that after careful polishing and impregnation with various oils, the wood takes on a bone-like appearance, and its thin parts can be seen through.

Photo 1. View of Suveli after sleeping. It looks like a bump or swelling. Initially it is difficult to judge internal view wood after cutting it.

In most cases, with proper cutting, you can observe amazing phenomena, namely the interweaving of wood fibers that form pearlescent areas of different (unique) patterns and directions, which literally glow, reflecting daylight. Patterns and colors may be different, mostly pink-yellow, straw, or brownish yellow with a deep pearlescent glow on the cut, in some cases there are specimens with a dark brown color with the presence of marsh-green shades. This color range is explained by the fact that the wood grows in different conditions and areas, for example: If the growth was cut down in a very swampy area, then it is possible that the color of the wood will most likely be brownish-green. Or another example: If Suvel is located on the butt part of a tree (the butt part of the trunk is the part that is 10 - 15 cm underground and 15 - 20 cm above it, this is on average) and it is covered with moss, then most likely it it will be dark brown with the presence of a pale pink tint, or straw yellow - golden with dark brown growth rings - that is, the presence of dark shades will dominate, but not always.

Photo 2. A rare and valuable specimen of Suveli, naturally dried for about 1.5 years. In the photo you can see the ray glow of the fibers in daylight. This glow is called "Mother of Pearl", it can be different types, from clear pearlescent rays to those you see in other images, there is no limit to the variety.

Photo 3 . This sample is also rare, its main difference from the one on photo 2, this is a marble texture and drying technology, it was dried in a quick way, namely by boiling in a salty solution. The photo clearly shows how it differs from the one on photo 2, the one above has a total straw or golden color and on photo 3 The color is predominantly brownish pink.

Photo 4. Here you see a species that is also rare, but is more common than those in photos 2 and 3.

Photo 5. In this photo, mother-of-pearl stains are called ashy or glass.

This type is the most common, but its value is not lost because everyone has different tastes. Some people like the radial section, while others like luminous ashy stains. Photo 6 . This, as we already understood, is the radial direction of the fibers with the presence of ashy stains.

(mixed type) Photo 7

. A specimen that looks like a simple one, but in fact it is not, it is also a rare species that grows mainly in swamps, which is why it has such a color. Photo 8 . This is an example of how Suvel looks in finished form

(products) in combination with reindeer antler and metals. Knife by Valery Sokolov "Svalbard", made in Scandinavian style. More, This wood depends on the type of drying (this does not affect the quality of the products), there are several drying options.
1. Natural, this is when the wood has dried under natural conditions, without human intervention, that is, after cutting over time, the tree has dried out on its own.
2. The old Russian method of quick drying, the wood is boiled in a salty solution for several hours, then the bark is removed and placed in a dark and dry place for several weeks, this is the minimum, and after that it is quite suitable for processing.
The noticeable difference after these types of drying is the color. During natural drying, the wood remains its natural color, and after cooking it acquires a soft pink or carrot tint, this is not for everyone, whoever wants it dries it the way he wants. In the skillful hands of a person who has everything in order with his imagination, any piece of wood will shine and look expensive, you just have to really want it and use your imagination.

Suvel is a material from which you can make various objects, for example, women's jewelry in the form of pendants, earrings, hairpins and bracelets, it depends on how much imagination a person has. Previously, but no, not only earlier and now some enthusiasts use it to make cutlery that is quite suitable for its intended purpose, take for example the Scandinavian “Kuks”, these are something like our mugs, only made of wood, better material you can't find Suvel for this.
But most importantly, this material is most suitable for making knife handles. Due to its inherent qualities, such as hardness, density, ease of processing and polishing, unique texture, variety of color shades, beauty of mother-of-pearl weaves, etc. One thing is clear that this material will never get boring, although some will disagree with me, this is their right. Previously, I made handles only from exotic types of wood, but they quickly tired me with their monotony and monotony, although to each their own, and someone will say the opposite. But I definitely learned for myself that there is no better raw material than Birch and what it gives us in the form of Burps, Suvels, Svils, Butts and the root part.

All samples that you see in the form of bars are ground and polished, and then treated with shelf oil. This allows you to preserve the natural color of the wood and protect it from moisture and decay + treated with carnauba wax.

The variety of Suveli is very rich, I would say endless, this material is combined with almost all types of wood, bone, metals, etc.

If an unusual growth appears on a tree, this means that the structure of this plant has undergone some strong changes.

One of the layers of any wood is the so-called cambium. And such growths usually grow precisely due to it. It turns out that the integrity of this very cambium was somehow violated by certain natural conditions or mechanical damage.

This article is dedicated to this interesting phenomenon. After reading it, you can find out what growths there are on trees, what they are called, and what their significance is.

Causes of growths

Usually in plants they arise as a result of a sharp change in its development, which has either a natural or anthropogenic cause.

The growths sometimes appear in the form of simply round-shaped formations, and sometimes in the form of several lumps located next to each other. The latter is due to the fact that when the integrity of wood is violated for some reason, the tree tries to protect itself from various fungal diseases and insects, which is why such unimaginable forms of formations grow.

Growths on trees: photo, name, general description

Burl (and burl) is a growth on a tree with highly deformed directions of the wood fibers. For the most part there are rounded outgrowths on a branch or trunk. They are filled with small nodules of dormant buds.

Burls grow, as noted above, due to the cambium. This is a kind of trunk. But besides burls, there are also other types of growths: smooth (spherical) - suvel; irregular shape- tree cancer.

Some burls grow underground as tumors on the roots. Therefore, they are discovered only after the death of the plant. Such basal growths on trees sometimes take the form of several round (cone-shaped) protuberances connected to each other by rope-like roots. Burls are almost always covered with bark, even if they are underground (this is natural protection from insects and diseases).

Some plant species have enormous growths. For example, these can be found on sequoia trees. In 1984, a growth of incredible size was discovered on a eucalyptus tree in Australia. It reached approximately 2 m in diameter and height, and its strange shape resembled a trombone.

Types of growths

Such growths are found on almost all tree species, but most of them are found on deciduous trees. They are especially often found on oak, pine, birch and alder. They can be completely different in shape. Often there are growths on the tree in the form of mushrooms.

These formations are divided into two groups (according to the arrangement of the fibers in them): ordinary, in which the pattern is similar to neatly combed hair - suvel-val; flows with small, rounded and intricately curved lace patterns - caps.

The burl formed on is called the stem burl, and the basal burl is located at the root. The second one is also called caporoot. It is found much more often in the forest than the stem one.

The rarest, most durable and beautiful, and therefore valuable, is considered to be the branch burl (growth on tree branches), which has a relatively small size (15 cm in diameter) and a needle-like structure. And the most common (less dense and valuable) is the basal burl, which sometimes reaches gigantic sizes. The stem growth occupies an intermediate position between the above-mentioned varieties.

Value, feature

Growths on trees come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Burl wood looks very beautiful the following plants: maple, cherry, pear. The growth on the walnut is considered valuable on the international market. It should be noted that there have been cases where some mouth guards with a textured pattern were valued at their weight in silver.

For the most part, growths are small in size, but there are also specimens reaching 2 meters in diameter and weighing more than one ton. Moreover, it often happened that education was completely amazing magical patterns.

In birch the growths are found to be much smaller in size than on a walnut tree. It happens that in the beauty of their patterns they are significantly superior to the latter.

Who would have thought that an ordinary knobby growth on a tree has such valuable properties!

Properties of burl wood

Burl wood has amazing, truly valuable properties:

Natural uniqueness of the pattern on the cut, uniqueness of the structure.

Very high strength.

Does not burn in free fire.

Perfectly polished.

Practically not subject to rotting.

Does not crack, dry out or swell.

Economic importance and application

Growths on trees bring considerable benefits. Not the plant itself, no. They are used by humans in the production of various products. Burls are needed to obtain unusual wood with a unique grain texture. Due to the variety of unique designs, this material is widely in demand and used by artists, cabinetmakers and sculptors.

There is a huge variety of well-known and common types of burls used in the manufacture of veneer, beautiful interior items, board games, picture frames, household items, jewelry, etc. Such wood is not very easy to process due to its unevenness and heterogeneity in the direction of fiber growth, but it is strong and durable.

The cap is widely used in decorative arts. In Vyatka in the 19th century, folk art was created: craftsmen made Vyatka burl boxes, desk writing sets, etc.

Research results

According to statistics, for every 3,000 ordinary trees, without growths, there is on average one burl tree.

Since 1959, due to the value of such wood, the Central Research Institute of Forest Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences began to study the biological study of burls and methods of their cultivation. Scientists have developed a technology for sowing and growing birch trees with burls. As a result, a huge grove was planted in the Moscow region. And since 1967, similar birch trees began to be planted in forestry Kirov region.

How to get a cap?

In any case, it’s not worth spoiling a living tree in the forest because of a beautiful burl. Moreover, it is not so difficult to find this one - on trees in city parks, in gardens. And it is cut down every year a large number of trees on which burl growths can be found.

And yet... In case of urgent need, this should be done carefully and in the period from late autumn to early spring, when the movement of sap in the tree is slow.

The growth can be trimmed with a sharp knife or sawed off with a saw. Be sure to treat the cut area with hydrogen peroxide and cover it with garden varnish. You can also lubricate the cut with drying oil or fresh resin (a natural antiseptic), although it is difficult to find today.

And for gardeners the following is important. To avoid the formation of such unsightly forms of growths on garden trees, you need to inspect the plants more often. If cracks and damage are detected, they must be healed before large caps form. In gardens, it is advisable to treat all growths on trees and branches.

Conclusion

There were many opinions regarding the formation of burls. As a result, scientists came to this conclusion. Cap is a biologically normal, protective phenomenon. The formation of a growth on a tree is a natural inherited natural process.

Numerous scientific observations have shown that such plants are healthier. Such a tree is more resilient during spring floods and during periods of frequent temperature changes. It is also more stable in winds.

Due to limited supplies of this type of wood and in connection with the above described unique properties This material is of the greatest value among others.

The price on the world market for burl (veneer and solid wood) far exceeds the cost of any other material of this kind, including walnut, oak, red and any exotic species.

Instructions

From each needle bud, a large number of which were concentrated on a small surface, forming a burl, a branch could grow. Due to the fact that there are so many buds, not a single one can escape from the wood. From the collection of buds a texture is formed, unusual in shape and pattern. No layer of wood can compete with burl for the natural beauty, complexity and rarity of the material. Unique birch burl called wood malachite; burls made from cherry, bird cherry and walnut are interesting. The burl is often called a burl, but this is a misnomer. Professionals can easily distinguish the burl from the influx - a layer of wood of the same tree, but with the growth rings mixed up. The flow when cut resembles marble with white veins.

The burl is divided into two types: needle-shaped and root-shaped burl. The needleweed is the rarest, it grows very slowly and only in early spring - when the leaves peck on the trees, its growth stops. When making a cross-section through the burl, you can find the place of its origin; the pattern will resemble a funnel tapering towards the center of the trunk - this is the beginning of the needle burl. Large burls are very difficult to find and are highly prized. The structure of the burl root is similar to the needle-shaped one, but there is a difference in the pattern of the wood texture, which is darker and larger. It develops on the roots and in the root zone, on trees growing in moist soil - near streams, swamps and along river banks.

Even because of a large and beautiful burl, it is not worth spoiling a living tree. Moreover, it is not difficult to find this natural anomaly - many burls develop on tree trunks in city parks, on poplars, American maples and lindens. A large number of trees are cut down every year, and it is not difficult to extract burl growths from them. If the need to remove the burl from a living tree is very great, this is done from late autumn to early spring, while the movement of sap in the tree is slow. For cutting, take a saw with universal teeth; the cut is made strictly along the trunk, vertically, without affecting the main wood. If the movement of the saw is very difficult, a spacer is made from a pair of wooden wedges, which are driven into the slot. After the burl is completely separated, the cut area is immediately painted over with oil paint or drying oil. It is useless to paint over a cut made in the spring - the movement of the sap cannot be stopped, and the tree will inevitably become very sick.

Burl lends itself well to processing, it does not crack, warp or swell, and its strength is several times higher than the wood of the tree on which it grows. The best option use - immediately after collection, peel the burl from the bark and cut it into planks 3-5 mm thick, to then use it for the production of boxes or mosaics. In this option, the use of burl is more optimal, and in the manufacture of various bowls, vases and bowls, most of the material is lost. The most interesting burl pattern is produced by chord cutting; it is, as a rule, many points, each of which is surrounded by rings of different shades, and different shades of stains flow between the rings.

Sources:

• Growths on a birch

The texture of the burl often has such a bizarre pattern that you can see a finished image or landscape on it. In other cases, the burl is sawn and processed.

Instructions

If the burl is quite large, and according to the idea it can be used to make not just one thing, but several, it is sawn before processing. Most often, burls are sawn into plates of varying thicknesses: the thickness depends on what products are planned to be manufactured. To obtain the best pattern on all workpieces, the cutting angle must be thought out in such a way as to cut as many dormant buds as possible. On a fresh cut, the pattern is hardly noticeable, but the untreated burl is easier to saw. But before shaping it into a product, the burl is steamed so that the design appears completely and can be shown in the work. It is best to steam the caps in small ones; this can also be done in. You will need an unnecessary pan of suitable size; the dyes released by the wood will be difficult to wash off. The sawdust is placed in a thick layer on the bottom, then a drip is laid out on it - but not close together, there should be a half-centimeter gap between the pieces. Sawdust is also laid on top, but not in such a thick layer.

Fill with salt water, but mainly the bottom layer, so that the water only touches the workpieces without covering them entirely. Take about a tablespoon of salt per liter, maybe a little more. Cover with a lid and place on very low heat. After boiling, the workpieces should be steamed for 6-10 hours; water should be added to the pan periodically, checking every hour. Then remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. The workpieces are removed from the cooled sawdust, the sawdust is washed off from them with a stream of water, and left to dry, turning over for uniform drying every few hours. Drying usually takes 3-4 days. After the workpieces have dried, you need to repeat the boiling process, then dry again, and so on at least 3 times. If after three steamings the bark itself does not fall off the workpieces, you need to remove it. Steaming the burl blanks last time and, having removed the bark, leave the wood for final drying. It is best to dry them outside, turning them every few hours for the first 3 days, then once a day. After this, it’s a good idea to dry the workpieces in a special drying cabinet 2-3 times.

Large pieces of solid burl, larger than a football, are not suitable for processing in this manner. During the cooking or drying process, the burl will certainly crack and may even burst. Solid burl figures are processed in the same way as any wood - sanded and varnished. Boiling is best suited for burls that have been sawn into thin slices. When steamed, these blanks are colored with natural dyes in a wide variety of shades, from light golden to chocolate brown. After this lengthy processing, you can begin to further improve the burl. Finished products are coated with alcohol or acrylic varnishes. You can also use nitro varnishes. Before coating, the surface is sanded with emery - first coarse, and then very fine, and wiped from wood dust with a soft cloth.

Sources:

• Burl processing