Attn: Call Makers

[Michigander]

So a buddy and I started a little side deal going on where we harvest and sell burl. This small business has grown some over the last couple years and we now have a sawmill and two kilns. We do 90% of our business on ebay, and all blanks are green and sealed. We have a lot of burl cut-offs and caps that we usually just throw in a large flat rate shipping box and sell for whatever we can get.

Having said that, my question is this. I'm wondering if members here would be interested in some of these scraps for call making? I also know that it has to be dry first. While filling one of the kilns with table slabs the other day, I thought I would throw in a few smaller burl pieces to see how they come out.

I'm willing to let most these cut-offs go pretty cheap, or would be interested in a trade, I just want to see them get used. It seems like some of the best looking parts of the burl get trimmed off. So I need to know, what sizes do these need to be. Whether for pots, strikers, or boxes, what sizes are the smallest sizes you guys can work  with. Also, if any of you have any tips on how to dry burl, I'd love to hear them.

(Mods., wasn't sure if this should go here or in the classifieds)

[lightsoutcalls]

I have had little experience actually drying burl woods.  I have heard that they require slow drying.  I had one gentleman tell me he wrapped them in newspaper or buried them in dry sand and put them in a dark room in his basement.

The rough dimensions for my pot blanks are 1" thick by 4 1/2"x 4 1/2".  This measurement leaves minimal room for waste.  I don't use wood with any checks or cracks.  I can work with some small bark inclusions.

Hope that helps a bit.

[TRKYHTR]

Most of my pot call blanks are 4"X4"x1", My trumpet blanks are 1 1/4"X1 1/4"X6". I don't know on box call blanks because I don't make box calls. What kind of wood are we talking about? I would be interested in some pieces. Let me know,

TRKYHTR

[Michigander]

Thanks for the input guys. We currently have black locust burl, red elm burl, box elder burl with some flame figure, mulberry burl, cherry burl, oak burl, and maple burl. We also have quilted maple (shell), and crotch figure cherry, crotch figure walnut, and crotch figure oak. This can change at any time though.

I'll see how the stuff turns out that is in the kiln. If it is all checked up, I'll know that I dried it too fast. I wonder if I could put it in the kiln after anchor sealing it?

[DeWayne Knight]

I have a shredder in my office that I shed junk mail and other paper with.  I put some black locust burl pieces, (1 1/2" square by 4 inches long) in a box on a layer of the shredded paper and then filled the box the rest of the way to the top.  It sat in our spare bedroom for 6 months or so and the wood was definitely drier.  I don't have a mosture meter, (yet), to check though.  I've also put blanks in my attic to dry.

[Basser69]

I think that there would be a great deal of intrest on here for the burls if the blank sizes are usable.

[Michigander]

I've done the attic trick with a blank I built a gunstock from, it's really not much different than a solar kiln. What moisture content are you callmakers looking for?

[woodwzrd]

I have dried some cherry and maple Burl in my dehydrator and found a lower temp of 85-90 for about 3 weeks seems to work pretty good. The first batch I did was at 95ish and it dried out in like a week and a half but was checked up and had tons of little holes all over the place.

I would be interested in some of your pieces. For my pots I use 4x4x1" and for my tubes and other stuff I use 2x2x3 or longer. I do deer grunts and howlers that require a 2x2x8. On some of my stuff I can sneak by with 1.5x1.5 stock but preffer the beefier stock.

[lightsoutcalls]

Moisture content is ideal at 8% but can be worked up to around 12% without much concern.

[stone road turkey calls]

I use 4x4x1 and 4x4x3/4 blanks, 90% of my burl i buy green and dry it my self. let us know when we can get some from you

[misfire]

I would be interested if you can get it dry enough. I need pieces 1x4x4 for pots, 1.5x.1.5x6 for trumpets, and 1.5x1.5x4 for duck calls. I love using burls, makes interesting looking calls

[Michigander]

If you guys are interested in buying green stuff, I can get some around for you at any time.

I guess let me know what you are interested in and I'll see what I can do. It is probably going to be most cost effective to buy as much as will fit in a flat rate shipping box, small, medium, or large. But I'll try to do whatever you want.

[woodwzrd]

When you say green just how green are we talking. Fresh cut or 6 month air dried???  I would be interested in a medium flat rate box with an assortment of what ever you have.

[luckydawg]

I have some  berry burl drying right now. When I researched it I was told to soak it in DNA over night and then Wrap in newspaper and brown paper bags . I also covered some with sawdust after wrapping with newspaper. When I checked it last week it seemed to be drying with no checking. Been almost two months since i put it up.
I would like to see some of your burls also!!!

[Michigander]

There is some stuff that has been sitting around for a year, some stuff that has been recently cut, and everything inbetween. I'll try to get some moisture readings off of some stuff.

We are actually starting our slow time of year right now, so that may limit my supply of cutt-offs. But I think that there is a 3' pile about 5' across that I can sort through. Usually October through April is when we do most of our business.