Root burls sawing

[Redmt]

I'm working on a design in my head to be able to cut burls with my bandsaw mill. So far it's looking like a flat plate placed on top of the log bunks with 4 adjustable clamps. The initial cuts will be cutting them from the flat surface left from chainsawing the trunk. I'm thinking that placing the stump in upside down with give it stability and I'll be able to take measured accurate cuts through the roots until I get to the desired pieces. I'll be cutting Black Walnut stumps that have been pressure washed several times. It's probably going to cost me a few blades but should be worth the time and expenses. Has anyone built a burl adapter for their mill? There's no sense redesigning the wheel of there's a design already out there to copy.

[doc henderson]

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=116751.msg1853160#msg1853160

[WV Sawmiller]

    Are you sawing burls or root balls? Burls are  defects that cause lumps, sometimes very large lumps, to grow on the trunk or limb of a tree. They are usually beautiful but very unstable because of the grain pattern. Root balls are just where the trunk came out of the ground and the roots connected and will be highly figured more like crotch wood. The residual dirt in a root ball dulls the blade quickly no matter how much you clean them.

    Woodmizer makes a cookiemizer attachment to fit many of their mills. I don't know if it would fit your mill. Many people have made various jigs to hold short logs and burls when sawing them. On my mill there is a short shelf or plate on the two plane clamp wide enough I can rest a short log on then squeeze against the fixed piece of the clamp and hold it firmly while sawing.

[doc henderson]

I have cut root balls, and yes there is always a pocket of dirt you could not get to, and the sound changes on the blade.  then smoke starts to roll out since you now just have a loop of metal on the mill, that no longer qualifies as a "blade"!

[sealark37]

If you are sawing gunstock blanks, should you not need to clamp the stump horizontally?

[Redmt]

I guess I used wrong terminology with "burls" . It's definitely root balls.

[doc henderson]

Well, root balls! :D :D :D

[moodnacreek]

I worked with a logger a few times who told me he once worked for a walnut outfit. They I presume would be buying typical open grown walnut trees. He had to climb them and take the leads off the crotch and then dig and clean all around the roots. The topless tree was cut below grade and looked like a dog bone when shipped. I also have a book that describes this method that was once considered the way to harvest walnut trees.               My self, I hate logs with the crotch or anything else sticking out of it and will grab a chainsaw and shave it clean so I can turn the log easily on the deck and carriage and I have no market for burly pieces of wood. I would get a lot of oohs and aahs but never a sale.

[tmbrcruiser]

I've sawn two walnut root balls. In both cases the tree was dug up with the log attached to the stump. As has already been said, you won't get all the dirt no matter how much you pressure wash the roots. After trimming the root ball to a reasonable shape, the first log and the root ball can be sawn together.  Could have been the trees but I'm two and done on sawing stumps. The crotch wood is easier to saw and in my experience prettier wood.