{"id":2235,"date":"2017-03-27T04:00:27","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=2235"},"modified":"2017-02-01T18:06:44","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T23:06:44","slug":"madrone-burl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/madrone-burl\/","title":{"rendered":"Madrone Burl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geographic Distribution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For those of a more scientific nature, the tree most commonly known as Madrone is properly classified as Arbutus menziesii<\/em>.  A. menziesii<\/em> has a very limited geographic distribution, being primarily restricted to the coastal areas of North America from an extreme northern locale of southwestern British Columbia, where it is restricted to water-shedding sites on southeastern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and adjacent coastal mainland, southward through Washington, Oregon, and California in the coastal mountains and west slopes of the Sierra Nevada.  The southern limit of Pacific madrone is on Mount Palomar in San Diego County, California.<\/p>\n

While A. menziesii<\/em> can be found inland, these populations are very isolated and limited with the major populations found strictly along the coastline, and primarily those coasts north of San Francisco Bay.  The populations south and east of this primary area are extremely fragmented and small.<\/p>\n

A. menziesii<\/em> requires fire to propagate. The mature trees produce many seeds but the seedlings compete for sunlight and nutrients with conifers. When conifers are removed or reduced through naturally occurring fires, the A. menziesii<\/em> seeds sprout and can grow quickly, but native populations have been greatly reduced by human controls on natural fires in the native areas which are also popular for homebuilding, which is contrary to natural wild fire patterns being allowed to occur.<\/p>\n

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Madrone Burl<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

A closely related species, A. unedo<\/em>, which is native to the Mediterranean region has become a popular ornamental tree or shrub in much of the same area in which A. menziesii <\/em>is found natively.  However, A. menziesii <\/em>is difficult to transplant while A. unedo<\/em> lends itself much more easily to cultivation in gardens and landscapes.<\/p>\n

For the sake of simplicity and common understanding, I will refer to A. menziesii<\/em> from this point forward as Madrone.<\/p>\n

General Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The wood of the Madrone tends to be of a creamy or even pinkish brown color, but on occasion dark red patches can occur.  In many ways, Madrone is similar to fruitwoods in appearance.<\/p>\n

However, Madrone is almost always limited to burl pieces, which are very popular compared to the regular timber.  Madrone burl is well known and loved for its many closely-packed clusters of knots and swirled grain.<\/p>\n

Madrone Burl Rifle Butt Blank<\/p><\/div>\n

Burl wood can occur anywhere the tree has suffered a physical injury or disease. It can occur both above and below the ground line. Burl wood is often considered beautiful and desirable because the grain is typical twisted and twirled into fantastic figures and design. However, despite its natural beauty, burl wood can be quite difficult to work with hand tools or on the lathe due to the very same factors that make is so visually desirable. The twisted grain can cause weakness in the wood, making it prone to cracks and breakage during working, especially during turning on the lathe.<\/p>\n

The grain of the Madrone tends to be straight with a very fine and even texture.  This characteristics is not likely to be true of the burl wood however due to the very nature of burls.<\/p>\n

The endgrain character of Madrone tends to be porous with many small pores in no specific arrangement.  Heartwood deposits are occasionally present.  However, endgrain is not present in burl wood.<\/p>\n

While I shouldn’t think it would much matter for the purposes for which Madrone, especially the burl wood, is typically used, Madrone is rated as non-durable to outright perishable in terms of resistance to fungal rot and decay.  Madrone’s specific resistance to termites and other insect pests is not noted in official records.<\/p>\n

Working Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While the following workability information is accurate for Madrone timber, working with burl wood, the most common form of Madrone on the market, might be different due to the unique character of burl woods.<\/p>\n

Madrone is comparatively easy to work with both machine and hand powered tools.  For those familiar with working with Hard Maple (Acer saccharum<\/em><\/a>), Madrone is very similar in terms of working characteristics and both woods are of about the same hardness, which is quite hard for domestic hardwood.<\/p>\n

However, Madrone be difficult to dry.  Pieces of Madrone that have been worked while less than bone dry have a marked tendency to warp or twist in the drying process, so use caution with wet timber and rough turn bowls or other turnings to allow room to reshape once final drying has occurred.<\/p>\n

Madrone is an excellent turning wood, in part due to its relative hardness.<\/p>\n

Madrone takes stains and other finishes quite well.<\/p>\n

Take care to ensure that any water-based glue joints are thoroughly dry before further machining to avoid subsequent sunken glue lines.<\/p>\n

Madrone displays no characteristic odor when freshly cut or otherwise machined.<\/p>\n

Madrone Burl Table Top<\/p><\/div>\n

Pricing and Availability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The pricing and availability of Madrone will depend in large part of where you are located and on what form of Madrone you are interested in.<\/p>\n

Supplies of Madrone outside of its native range will be inherently limited and more expensive than material sourced from the west coast directly.  However, Internet based wood suppliers make this less of a challenge than once would have been the case.<\/p>\n

That said, most Madrone is sold in the burl form, either as small turning blanks or as a veneer, both of which will be quite expensive as is so often the case with any burl wood since it is in much more limited supply than timber material.<\/p>\n

However, Madrone lumber, when and if available, is also expensive compared to other domestic hardwoods and will easily cost more than other premium domestic materials such as Cherry (Prunus serotina<\/em>) or Walnut (Juglans nigra<\/em>).<\/p>\n

The best price comparison for Madrone would be Myrtle (Umbellularia californica<\/em>) which is another hardwood native to the Pacific coastal region.  Myrtle tends to be a bit more widely available than Madrone in general, especially in larger lumber formats and large turning blanks.<\/p>\n

In this blog, I always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence.  These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods<\/a>, Bell Forest Products<\/a>, NC Wood<\/a>, Got Wood?<\/a>, and WoodTurningz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of these fine vendors only WoodTurningz currently stocks any form of Madrone Burl, although Bell Forest Products has sold spindle sizes of Madrone Burl in the past and may do so again at some point in the future.<\/p>\n

WoodTurningz sells only pen blanks sizes of Madrone Burl at this time and that is typical for this material.  Prices range from $3.00 to $5.50 depending on the grade of the material desired.<\/p>\n

Exotic Woods USA<\/a>, a vendor with whom I have done limited business, does offer some larger sizes of Madrone Burl slab ranging in price from $19.80 for a small turning square up to $139.50 for a very large almost 10” square over 2” thick blank.  Caution that I have not always found this suppliers blanks to be well waxed or stored with care, often some mold is present, so beware of this when ordering unless you plan to use the stock quite quickly indeed.<\/p>\n

As to which vendor would be best I can’t say, but I would suggest that an interested buyer look at all the options, consider shipping distances and prices, as well as other items that might be of interest from any one seller before selecting a vendor.  I’ve had mostly good experiences will these vendors and would feel confident purchasing Madrone Burl from any of them.<\/p>\n

I would strongly consider looking for wood dealers located on the western coast who would be more likely to deal extensively in the woods native to the region in addition to larger national vendors.  Good deals are often found from hobbyist mills located in the native regions of domestic hardwoods.  As I am currently located in northwestern Georgia, my knowledge of and access to such dealers on the west coast is limited, but again, the Internet finds all things if you are patient and motivated enough to look.<\/p>\n

Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers.  In your search for Madrone Burl, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings.  I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.<\/p>\n

A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer.  I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand.  It happens to me all the time!<\/p>\n

Uses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By far the most common form of Madrone is burl veneer so it is safe to say that veneer is the most common use of Madrone.  That veneer might be applied to almost anything, especially very high end interiors and other accent pieces.  Madrone burl is also used for turning or carving small objects such as pens and other writing instruments and as knife handles or other small specialty objects produced either on the lathe or by carving.<\/p>\n

Although it would never be the fate of burl wood, Madrone does make an excellent very hot burning firewood and charcoal.<\/p>\n

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Madrone Burl Natural Edge Sold From Exotic Woods USA<\/p><\/div>\n

Sustainability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Madrone is not listed as being in any way threatened or endangered by the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices<\/a> nor does it appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To the best of my knowledge, Madrone is not subject to any special restrictions by any United States government agency.<\/p>\n

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.<\/p>\n

However, due to the commercial scarcity of some domestic woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay <\/a>or Etsy <\/a>may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested.  The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood.  That is inherently an individual decision.<\/p>\n

I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations.  This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store.  Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.<\/p>\n

Health Hazards<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Madrone is not known or documented to cause any specific negative health effects, but the long-term negative effects of exposure to sawdust of any species are well documented.<\/p>\n

It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.  After all, despite a lack of reported major health effects, turning a bowl blank of Timborana almost killed me through immediate respiratory distress followed by a multiple week long illness, so caution is ALWAYS warranted.<\/p>\n

Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.<\/p>\n

But also bear in mind that many of the negative health effects, although certainly not all of them, are associated with high volume contact among industrial users working in mills and other processing facilities where the amount of contact with dust and wood is much higher than would ever be realistic for a hobbyist user.<\/p>\n

Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>.  Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Madrone.<\/p>\n

My Personal Experiences                        <\/strong><\/h2>\n

As is typically the case, I was only privileged to work with a very small piece of Madrone Burl so my experiences with the material are quite limited.<\/p>\n

As reported by others, I found Madrone Burl to make an excellent and very dense turning material.  The burl was well packed with curvy grain and burl-eyes which made it quite visually striking.  I had no difficulty in achieving a fine turned and sanded finish with Madrone Burl and it accepted the application of a cyanoacrylate pen finish quite nicely as well.<\/p>\n

Overall, I was very pleased with my albeit limited experience with Madrone Burl and I would be delighted to work with it again in the future, however I suspect that the very high prices commanded by larger bowl blank sized pieces will limited my experiences to the smaller, although still quite high end, pen blank sized pieces in the immediate future.<\/p>\n

As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By far the most common form of Madrone is burl veneer so it is safe to say that veneer is the most common use of Madrone. That veneer might be applied to almost anything, especially very high end interiors and other accent pieces. 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