Cherry Burl Hollow Vessel
$700 plus shipping

In September, 2011 we had a bad hurricane on the east coast. In Baltimore we lost power for up to six days in some areas. By the time it got to New England it was downgraded from Hurricane Irene to Tropical Storm Irene. However it produced devastating rains in Vermont which were a disaster. Having just moved to Vermont, I hear people still talking about the economic damage produced by that storm.

After the storm I got an e-mail from our woodturning club in Baltimore from my friend Curt inviting all who were interested to come to his house to get some neighbor's cherry which had been felled by the storm. It turns out that I was the only one who showed and we made quick work of the moderate sized tree. Curt took a small amount for himself and gave me all the rest.

Then he mentioned that a friend on the Eastern Shore of Maryland had given him a large cherry burl and asked if I would like some. Fortunately, my chain saw was large enough to handle the job of dividing the burl, always a tricky task making the best use of the wood. Again for my effort he gave me the largest piece of the burl, a really generous gift.

The above hollow form from this burl resulted from me demonstrating hollow turning to another good friend and student of mine. It was going to be much larger but after eliminating the defects this was the result. So, we can say that this was the byproduct of Hurricane Irene showing that every cloud has a silver lining.

No one understands what produces burls. They look like tumors and inside are thousands of tight swirls. Under the right conditions, each swirl will produce a sprout. This gives a very complex grain pattern. You can look at a piece for hours and never see all the detail. This may be why burls are cherished by collectors.