Introducing Samantha the Saligna burl.

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Hi All,

Sorry if this is the wrong section but I couldn't find a woodturning thread. Am hoping to document the journey of a gum log (E.saligna) burl I spotted in a small stand of trees a few years ago and have only just found the time to get the party started.

Here she was when I first noticed her:



She was hot. Literally, at one stage. Talking to the farmers I learned 'some firewood hack' (like but not, me, I promise) was cutting amongst dry gum leaves a few years before and set a blaze that threatened to burn through the whole stand but they got on top of it early enough thankfully:



Just how much, if any, damage that heat did will be known soon enough, but even if she isn't any good, it was worth a shot.

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Access to this gully is Summer only and Winter was approaching fast and I really wanted to get it out of there and off to a woodturning friend of some repute.
It took three days of cleaning up after the previous firewood hack before I had a clear landing spot, so I was dangerously at risk of running out of time but dropped the tree and a few stragglers around it.


Photos don't seem to do it justice but it's pretty steep in there and the 32" bar really wasn't the best option, but was the biggest I had. The yellow string was because I wanted to get an idea of how tall the tree was but was too scared to walk out there, but did eventually do so later on. Quite tall trees in this gully. Here's the tree on the ground. Farmer was watching me and impressed I managed to hit the two slash piles I had created earlier. Of course, it was more luck than a good aim, because I can only see sky from the stump, certainly no landmarks to help line up where to drop it.

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

My tractor winch is only 4t and this wood is very dense so heavy when dry and 'you gotta be kidding me' heavy when green. So I nibbled down from the top of the tree until it was teetering on the brink and then tried to swing it around but it didn't work as planned and the log ended up half way down the gully but not rolling or damaging Samantha. So, I freehand slabbed the burl out. Had to dig into the bank on one side and was 'milling' about shoulder height on a wet, muddy, sketchy hill on the other side of the tree. There was about 3" of overlap when using the 32" bar, so I got lucky that I could cut it out coming from both sides. Dragged Samantha up, then together with the digger, we dragged the rest of the log up and I cut and positioned it ready for milling later on. With a snatch block on the log, I had about 7-8t of pulling power and it wasn't enough without the help of the digger. Also, the digger wasn't enough by itself, so it really was a team effort to get that log up.

My tractor, "Nemo", can lift and move around safely on rough ground, about 1.2t in the FEL and Samantha was certainly weight-challenged and giving Nemo a workout. It was a rather interesting 3hr drive home too, with steering being somewhat lighter than normal.





Got Samantha off the truck and dumped on my friends front lawn. You should have seen his face when I rolled up. Full Cheshire cat grin and eyes the size of golf balls.

I will be slabbing it on his front lawn at some stage soon, under his experienced guidance. Fingers crossed we've got something really special here. Really not sure though, because I noticed some rot that was not showing in the original photos. I also spotted some rot in the very centre of the log, as if this tree was just starting its decline. I wonder if it was the heat from that fire that pushed it over the edge.

Anyhoo, will post more photos when we open her up.

 

[Jeff Svoboda]

Nice. Sure didn't look that big in the first photo.

 

[CR888]

Awesome! Hope its a nice surprise when you get into it. The imagination must be going wild!

 

[VinceGU05]

subbed

 

[quietfly]

Subbed im excited to see what this looks like inside

 

[paragonbuilder]

Wow that's huge! Very cool!


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[quietfly]

Wow that's huge! Very cool!


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I bet they hear that all the time down under....

 

[bryanr2]

subbed

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

I bet they hear that all the time down under....

Ha,. More like "you call that wood"?

 

[Iron.and.bark]

Hit the burl with a high pressure cleaner and get all the bark and detritus that builds up before milling.

Will see all the fissures/cracks that way. Some sections maybe better cubed than slabbed for maximum yield.

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Hit the burl with a high pressure cleaner and get all the bark and detritus that builds up before milling.

Will see all the fissures/cracks that way. Some sections maybe better cubed than slabbed for maximum yield.

Thanks for that. Makes allot of sense. Hopefully it's easy to tell how deep any cracks go once it's cleaned up. Will be interesting to see how deep into the log the figure penetrates, if at all.

 

[jockeydeuce]

Great post!...From a fellow woodturner, I will say I'm a little jealous. It will be impossible for there not to be some nice pieces in that burl even if there's some waste. ...Post more pics when you get into it!

 

[Hinerman]

Wow that's huge! Very cool!


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No kidding. I was thinking basketball size until I saw it in the back of that truck. The truck really puts it in perspective.

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Sorry y'all, there won't be any pictures of how it looked as I opened the log, or each piece, or any piece for that matter. When I dropped it off we agreed it could stay there as long as it took for me to find the time to get back there, but probably sometime this Winter, to get stuck in and see what's in there. A wee while ago i got a message on my phone saying he had had it slabbed and the timber looks fantastic. So, that message ended my multi-year association with this burl. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. That he broke our agreement, denied me the opportunity and excitement of opening her up and the great reveal we all look forward to, well, it's a special kind of betrayal only a wood enthusiast would understand. I went to considerable effort, cost, risk, and sacrifice to get that burl to his front lawn. I've not calmed down enough yet to pay him a visit and register my utter disgust. But I will.

 

[quietfly]

Sorry to hear that. That really sucks!!!!!

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Thanks. Pretty gutted about this. Still want to beat him to a bloody pulp with a bit of the burl. When that fades, I'll go see him.

 

[Iron.and.bark]

Sorry to hear that tale. Understand the pain, the "reveal" is exactly what I live to see as a craftwood miller.

 

[paragonbuilder]

I don't know what y'all look for in a reveal, but I understand the disappointment involved here. Sucks!


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