Sealing Burls

[Cue Crazy]

I've mostly only used solid stable hardwoods up to this point since I haven't done many cores except for shorter ones. Needless to say I haven't worked with burls much.

I have some inlay slabs of what I believe to be different kinds of burl. My questions are- in general should I seal these, and if so what's the best product to use that will be friendly when I go to inlay them, so the sealer won't need sanded first or gum My mills up? I believe them to be plenty dry, but there is some checking. Would a thin coat of epoxy sealer be suitable, or should I dip in nelsonite? These may sit on the shelf for a while until they get used, so I'm thinking It may be a good idea to take some kind of precaution.

Also on the lighter color burls. I notice that if you wet the surface they do not darken up any like some other woods might after finishing. Is there anything that will bring out and highlight the grain characteristics more without over darkening the whole piece? And should I apply this early on, or wait till the inlay is in the cue?
All Info is appreciated Thanks , Greg

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

I spray them with Krylon clear...JER

 

[jazznpool]

Wood glue, like Titebond II can also be used to seal burls.

Martin

I've mostly only used solid stable hardwoods up to this point since I haven't done many cores except for shorter ones. Needless to say I haven't worked with burls much.

I have some inlay slabs of what I believe to be different kinds of burl. My questions are- in general should I seal these, and if so what's the best product to use that will be friendly when I go to inlay them, so the sealer won't need sanded first or gum My mills up? I believe them to be plenty dry, but there is some checking. Would a thin coat of epoxy sealer be suitable, or should I dip in nelsonite? These may sit on the shelf for a while until they get used, so I'm thinking It may be a good idea to take some kind of precaution.

Also on the lighter color burls. I notice that if you wet the surface they do not darken up any like some other woods might after finishing. Is there anything that will bring out and highlight the grain characteristics more without over darkening the whole piece? And should I apply this early on, or wait till the inlay is in the cue?
All Info is appreciated Thanks , Greg

 

[cueman]

I've mostly only used solid stable hardwoods up to this point since I haven't done many cores except for shorter ones. Needless to say I haven't worked with burls much.

I have some inlay slabs of what I believe to be different kinds of burl. My questions are- in general should I seal these, and if so what's the best product to use that will be friendly when I go to inlay them, so the sealer won't need sanded first or gum My mills up? I believe them to be plenty dry, but there is some checking. Would a thin coat of epoxy sealer be suitable, or should I dip in nelsonite? These may sit on the shelf for a while until they get used, so I'm thinking It may be a good idea to take some kind of precaution.

Also on the lighter color burls. I notice that if you wet the surface they do not darken up any like some other woods might after finishing. Is there anything that will bring out and highlight the grain characteristics more without over darkening the whole piece? And should I apply this early on, or wait till the inlay is in the cue?
All Info is appreciated Thanks , Greg

Soaking in Nelsonite is a good idea for protecting on shelf. If you are doing very delicate inlays and you are afraid of the burl crumbling on you you can make a small pan out of tin foil. Pour a thin layer of Cue Coat Epoxy finish in the bottom. Put your inlay slabs into it and pour a coat of Cue Cote over the top and add some until it will not soak anymore up. Let this dry for a couple of days and you will have a poor mans way of plastic impregnating the wood.
Once you ahve done this you have no chance of color enhancing it with stain. If the burl is tough enough not to need impregnating then you can stain it any color you wish before applying finish. You could even soak it in carpet dye for several days and stain it all the way through. I am talking 1/8 to 3/16" slabs here and not turning squares.

 

[Cue Crazy]

Soaking in Nelsonite is a good idea for protecting on shelf. If you are doing very delicate inlays and you are afraid of the burl crumbling on you you can make a small pan out of tin foil. Pour a thin layer of Cue Coat Epoxy finish in the bottom. Put your inlay slabs into it and pour a coat of Cue Cote over the top and add some until it will not soak anymore up. Let this dry for a couple of days and you will have a poor mans way of plastic impregnating the wood.
Once you ahve done this you have no chance of color enhancing it with stain. If the burl is tough enough not to need impregnating then you can stain it any color you wish before applying finish. You could even soak it in carpet dye for several days and stain it all the way through. I am talking 1/8 to 3/16" slabs here and not turning squares.

Yeah Chris your thinking along the lines of what i had in mind. I have a vac pump somewhere, but I haven't experiemented with setting it up to impregnate epoxy yet. I was more less thinking of someway to soak in as much as possible without such a setup. the slabs are probably close to 3/16, a buddy here cut up a box of caps i got sometime back and we split them.

someone Pmed with a good suggestion for My pigment question, so thanks to them i got the color I wanted.

the sealing does'nt seem to be a big issue, cause it's not quite that brittle, but the epoxy I had in mind is basically the same as cue cote, so maybe i'll try a couple of slabs to see how well it penetrates. Thanks for the suggestions.


Thanks to jerry and Martin for your suggestions also Greg