An old white oak came down in a storm/tornado back in the summer. We had to cut it half to open up the farm lane and it had 219 rings give or take a couple.It has several burls from a few inchs all the way up to dang near 24". Where do I cut them from the tree and how do I cut or dry them in order to use them for projects or sale.

Cut where burl meets tree, if you want them cut and into thin pieces go to a mill.  If you want to leave them whole just coat them with wax or shellac.  Woodturners would be interested in whole burls they make beautiful turnings.

Dan Raney

The key to the big burls is S--L--O--W drying.  Like rainman said, cut it where it meets the tree, cut the big ones up into smaller (but still pretty darn big) chunks.  Debark everything and coat with wax - let dry for a few years.  

I have a few nice cherry burls drying right now.  If you cut them into the sizes you ultimately want you'll be extremely disappointed with the results (been there).  If you don't coat everything with wax you end up with some pretty severe checks and cracks (also been there).

what kind of wax  .......... I found a cherry tree on my farm this fall with several good sized burls on it ......... the tree is only about a foot in Diameter  ......... should I go ahead and take it or let it grow a few more years ???

A quick google search: Anchorseal and Mobil-Cer M
The first is a paraffin-based... you could probably come up with something similar in the shop.

Can someone show me a picture of what a burl looks like?

Dry burls in a cool , shady place after coating with a sealer of some kind. Burl wood is denser than regular wood but usually checks less because of the circular grain, still figure on at least 2 years of slow air drying for 2" thick and up .

You won't get rich selling burls , the market is saturated with them.

a burl is a growth on the side of a tree .................. looks something like a big black head of cauliflower growing from the side of the tree, although sometimes they go completely around the tree .......... they vary greatly in size from the size if a softball, to a basketball, to several feet in diameter

QuoteOriginally posted by NativeCraft:
Can someone show me a picture of what a burl looks like?

Aha! Thanks, guys.

Now, That's a burl!!!     Pat

I am not a wood worker but I was told that burled wood comes from the base of the tree where the root enters into the main tree???????

People use different terms for wood figure from burled to tigerstripe, an actual burl is as pictured above.  You can get figured for colored wood like used in fine firearms from anywhere on a tree where roots or branches meet the main trunk.

Dan Raney