If you’ve ever seen a tree with an odd looking deformity on the trunk or branch that looks like something growing out of it, it’s most likely a burl.
A burl is a growth that can appear on any type of tree mostly due to a traumatic event like a virus or disease or an attack from insects. The result is unique and often very valuable, offering remarkable grain and coloration that is prized by woodworkers for a variety of uses.
Here are 8 questions about burl wood you were afraid to ask, and the answers to each.
What is a burl?
A burl can best be described as a growth on a tree either visibly on the trunk or branch or underground where it’s not easily seen. In the UK, they are referred to as burrs but describe the same thing: It’s a deformity that gives the tree an odd look but from a woodworker’s perspective offers a unique and rare piece that can be used in a wide variety of applications.
Burl wood may occur on a tree due to factors such as a virus, insects, mold, disease or even lightning. A burl can best be described as a growth or scar that can occur on any tree and in particular on trees like walnut, elm and cherry among others.
While many burls grow on the trunk of the tree or on a branch, most actually grow underground on the root system and aren’t noticed until the tree dies or is uprooted.
What kind of wood is burl?
Burl isn’t a particular type of wood or species but refers to a growth or deformity on any tree.
A burl could thus be made from any type of wood and given that burls are unique and random, offer a very rare opportunity for the owner to have something that no one else has.
Even though they look like a growth and often visually appear unattractive at first glance, a burl is made of wood on the inside and offers a unique grain and patterning very different from the rest of the tree from which it came.
How do you spot a burl?
Burls tend to be bulbous and round although they can grow in many shapes and sizes. They won’t have twigs or branches growing out of them. The bark on a burl tends to be rougher to the touch than the regular bark on the same tree. The appearance of swollen bark with irregular bark patterns is a sure sign of a burl.
Although a burl can look odd and ugly on the outside, it’s made of wood on the inside. Unlike regular wood, the grain pattern on a burl can be very unusual and unpredictable which in part helps to explain the monetary value it offers.
What are the most desirable types of wood burl?
While there are are a number of wood types that produce valuable burls, here are six that are among the most prized.
Amboyna from the Narra tree is a very desirable and hard to find burl that has traditionally been used for high end automobile wood panelling in Maybachs and Bentleys as well as earlier Rolls Royce models.
Walnut burl – Walnut is a rich, brown wood that has long been used and prized for its look. It is often used in furniture, automobiles and veneers among other uses for its burls.
Black cherry burl – Cherry is widely used in woodworking and is a high quality, strong wood whose burls offer a wide variation in coloring with unique patterns.
Carpathian elm burl – Elm trees come in a variety of forms and one specific elm burl that is highly prized is the Carpathian elm burl which is naturally found in Eastern Europe’s Carpathian Mountains
. It is often used in veneers due to its scarcity and cost.
Eucalyptus burl – Grown largely in Australia, eucalyptus is a particularly desirable wood due to its durability, strength and sustainability.
Redwood burl – California’s redwoods are highly prized and protected trees and thus their burls are valuable and unfortunately, the target of poaching. As with other highly desired burls, redwoods are often used in veneers due to scarcity. Due to the size of redwoods, their burls can be among the most massive. A redwood burl can sprout another redwood tree known as a clone so it’s an important part of the redwood’s survival as a species.
How big a concern is burl poaching?
Burl poaching is a crime that has received greater attention recently especially in California involving their world famous redwoods and in Canada with cedar trees. While a redwood can live for an incredible 2,500 years in some cases, burl poaching has become a significant concern as it can severely damage or kill a tree.
It’s difficult to distinguish between legal burl collection and illegal burl poaching because burls can be harvested legally on private land or illegally in state parks and on other government-owned land. Harvesting California redwood burls on National or State parks is illegal full stop.
Sometimes the burl will be cut off with chainsaws if they can be reached. Other times the entire tree will be cut down by a poacher to reach a burl higher up on the tree.
Other than cutting down a tree and obviously killing it as a result, cutting off even just the burl and leaving the tree intact can result in the tree eventually dying from disease from the damage caused.
As such, burl poaching is something that has developed into an industry particularly involving redwoods but also among oak, walnut, hickory, elder, birch and balsam woods among others. If a burl has commercial value, there’s a chance it could be poached.
Why is burl wood so expensive?
Burl wood is expensive because burls occur naturally and don’t occur on all trees. The rarer and more expensive the wood, the more expensive the burl that may grow on it.
Burl wood offers curly, random intricate grains and patterns so its uniqueness is what gives it its characteristics. For woodworkers, it’s a unique opportunity to work with a piece not found elsewhere and for consumers, it’s an opportunity to own said piece.
Patterned burl wood has been used for furniture-making in many cultures and countries for centuries so it has a long history with many unique pieces that can be very valuable as a result.
Burls can be used in conjunction with exotic woods to increase value with a unique and high quality look that you can’t find elsewhere.
Does removing a burl kill the tree?
Can you remove a burl without killing the tree? Harvesting a burl can kill a tree or at a minimum, damage it and leave the wound where the burl was removed open to weather-related or other concerns. This is especially true if you are doing it for the first time or have little experience.
Removing a burl always has the potential to infect the tree with a disease and it also leaves the wound open to a virus or other stress that can eventually kill it. Burls initially grow as a protective response so removing one from a live tree essentially opens a wound that leaves the tree susceptible to damage.
The smaller the burl the less likely you are to kill a tree when it is removed properly but larger burls will of course leave a larger wound when removed and increase the chance of tree damage or death.
Poachers have also been known to cut down trees with chainsaws to access burls located near the top of a tree.
Your best best is to only remove burls from trees that are already dead, have already been felled or that you were planning on felling anyways.
What can you do with burls?
There are many applications for burls, some of which involve using the burl on its own and others that involve incorporating it with other parts of the tree.
Common uses for a burl include:
- Large furniture such as a table or desk either on its own or with other wood
- Small furniture such as coffee table legs, boxes, lamps and humidors
- Vases, bowls and knife handles
- Musical instruments i.e. the body of a guitar
- Pen blanks i.e. to lathe and carve into the body of a wooden pen
- Veneer strips that can be used for furniture
- Arts and crafts such as picture frames or clocks
- Automobile dashboards and paneling
Given the wide types of applications, wood burls can be of interest to professional and amateur woodworkers, artists, artisans and many commercial businesses involved in furniture and car making among others.