All About Wood Burls Including the Crime Scene Connection

A wise old woodworker once told me that wood burls were the gemstones of woodworking because they were hard to find, beautiful to look at and each one is unique, and I have come to believe him because I have only stumbled upon a few burls in my lifetime and I want to fully use each one of them. Burls are highly sought after by wood turners for bowls, pen blanks and more, but for furniture makers, the most sought after (and probably most expensive) wood is burl wood, and most of that comes from Burl Veneers, where we can get the most coverage with the lease amount of waste. But there are other things we can use burl wood for, like door and drawer pulls, inlays on guitars and other musical instruments, highlights and a details on all kinds of furniture with inlays like leaves, flowers, birds or even strips of burl for edging or facing boxes like jewelry boxes all made from thin burl pieces, but somehow I think there must be more and I am looking for ideas and thoughts on using burl wood and would love to hear other peoples ideas and suggestion in the comment section.

[shanesowell]

Uses for the galls? Pen making! Personally, burls and galls are for wooden works of art and should be cherished, not for things that will potentially get beaten up like cutting boards (unless they are hung and appreciated as such). Thanks for another great video Colin! Hope those miscreants get some serious jail time.

[garymiller]

Those burls are amazing. Thanks for sharing them with us Collin. 😊 I'm sure whatever you decide to make with them they'll be gorgeous! 😊😊😊

[ThePuppymomma]

The small galls like the one that you cut in half, sliced up, would make beautiful pendants. I would be honored to wear something like that.
I love trees.

[jamesbusie]

I use them for knife scales! They really emphasize the unique look of the grain - also: ink pens, bottle stoppers, pool cue sticks.

[mg]

The first thing that popped into my mind when you shared the long burled piece was "hat rack".

[JeffCloutier]

Fascinating! My neighbor has an evergreen of some type, with tons of this. I can't wait to dig into this more! Yes, guitar knobs and drawer pulls, I will let you know if I can think of anything else. Love your content Colin!

[sapelesteve]

Those Burls are fantastic Colin. I would suggest making a cutting board with a handle on one end that can be hung on the wall while not in use. You could make a walking stick out of that long one. 👍👍

[SomeDudeOnline]

5:12 the first thing that comes to mind for me is to cut them all off, clean them up then pack them tightly in a mold that you fill with epoxy (probably a dark epoxy to contrast the light from the pine) to make a cutting/charcuterie board or something. Should look amazing after surfacing the "board" to expose all the different grains in all the different burls. As for slightly larger galls, I've managed to make a couple rings from on that's almost the same exact size of the example around 02:00. For larger but not huge burls, you can bottle openers or some gorgeous chess pieces. Something that doesn't involve lathe work, I would think knife handles, pistol grips, or coasters would be a good use for them.

[Erik_The_Viking]

Bentley uses burls as part of their car interiors - they make thin veneers from them and it's a really cool process.

[MCsCreations]

Thanks a bunch for the lesson, Colin! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[jakewoodworkingKH]

Wow, look are amazing, Thanks you for sharing

[brentfowler]

I think building a smaller jewelry box. Something maybe 12 to 14 inches tall. Out of some plain wood (something without as much busy looking grain), maybe Maple, or even Pine, or Poplar, or even Ash. Although, Pine and Poplar are pretty soft woods, so idk if I would be building a jewelry box for anyone under the age of 20yr old out of a softer wood. But the choice is yours. You could even do 1/2" plywood and then use the burl to make drawer faces for the jewelry box. 12" tall box, maybe 6" to 8" wide. And do, maybe 5 or 6 drawers with drawer faces made from the burl wood! Anyhow awesome video Collin!! And as usual great work. Can't wait to see what's next! Keep making these great and very informative woodworking videos my friend! And until next time take it easy Collin.

[peterdahl]

my immediate thought when you unveiled the purchased burl was ... perfect for an end table!

[RYwoodview]

Thank you, Colin, for a terrifically educational video! Whatever you do with those pieces will turn out beautiful.

[derekloudon]

I would use the burl you bought as an interesting addition to my model railway. I would carefully remove all the little bits of bark that are left and oil the burl to bring out the beautiful patterns. I would then use it as a hillside. Cool!

[MasonWiseman]

If you cut off layers, each layer could be used to make a neat looking map of some sort. Doesn't have to be a real map of anything, but I noticed the swirling patters kind of look like waterways or topographical land masses. Could look pretty cool.

[googleuser]

Fascinating. Please show us your drawer pulls when you finish them. For your burls, I think I'd slice them and inlay them into table tops. They're just gorgeous. Also, what I thought I had was a burl is a gall, but I'm still going to try slicing it and use it if it's interesting enough inside. Shame on the person who burned that huge burl. Thanks Colin.

[garytompkins]

Oh my goodness, find a bowl turner. Burls are highly prized and often quite expensive. They make beautiful and interesting turnings

[valeriezendiver]

Really interesting, thanks for posting. As far as projects, I’d cut off a slice, sand & oil, and hang it in the wall as art. They’re like geodes!

[derekboyles]

Walking sticks, cane, pool que(maybe), cribbage boards?
Just a few suggestions for that pine encrusted burl