If you like to go outdoors, you've probably seen trees with strange spherical growths on the trunk or near the roots while walking through the forest. Such peculiar growths or nodules, covered with rough bark, are called mouth guards. As a rule, they occur in places where shoots and dormant buds grow. They can be found on birch, linden, alder, maple, rowan, oak, pine, larch, thuja, eucalyptus, myrtle, and walnut.

Cap, growing on the trunk of a tree is called a stem, and at the root - a capo root. Capo root is found in the forest much more often than stem root and can reach one and a half meters in diameter. According to their shape, mouthguards are divided into circular, encircling and lateral. Sometimes the mouth guards grow so much that their weight can reach up to 1 ton.

Cap– a rare, very hard and beautiful material with unusual design fibers that look like marble. It was widely known in our country back in the 12th century. In Rus', dishes were made from it, which were called burl. Mainly, these were hollowed out bowls, ladles and bowls. IN early XIX centuries, burl, along with valuable species of wood, was used for decorative finishing of furniture; boxes and snuff boxes were cut out of it, which were then inlaid with gold, mother-of-pearl or ivory and exported to other countries. Thanks to your unique qualities and extraordinary warmth of perception, the cap was highly valued all over the world.

Today cap serves as a material for the manufacture of artistic and decorative products (candlesticks, salt shakers, vases for sweets, fruits and flowers), and is also used for veneering furniture. The hardness of burl is several times greater than that of ordinary wood and is quite difficult to process, so products from it have to be made by hand.

Burl extraction is done with great care and only in cases where it can be cut down entirely. The problem is that it is almost impossible to separate it without damaging the tree itself, so it is best to look for burl at logging sites among already cut trees. The burl is cut out with part of the trunk to prevent it from cracking when drying, and also because otherwise it is simply impossible to separate it from the tree due to its high hardness. Depending on the size of the future product, the burl is cut into plates. Usually, on a fresh cut, the pattern is pale and inconspicuous, so the burl is steamed. After drying, the tray is ready for use. As a rule, burl products are coated with a special varnish or natural beeswax, which gives them a matte finish and conveys the warmth of wood well.

In its raw form, the burl can be used as a decorative element. For example, graceful mouthguards are not large sizes can be mounted on the wall of the room, either separately or as part of an original composition, and large knotted burls can be placed on the floor or a special stand as a natural decoration that emphasizes the eco-friendly nature of the room's style.

Of all naturally occurring burls, only 10% can be used to create decorative and artistic products, and the period from the beginning to the end of its processing can last several years. These periods cannot be reduced even with the help of modern technologies because of negative influence on the color and natural properties of the material. All these features of the burl determine its uniqueness, high value and originality, making it truly exotic, a symbol of ancient traditions in the modern world.

Burl bowl

In folk crafts and decorative arts, materials obtained from wood are widely used. Linden, aspen, birch, alder, willow - these trees provide wood for crafts and/or twig and bast for weaving. If the material is unusual and rare, then it brings the craft to new level- a valuable commodity or even a work of art that deserves more than local history museum. Among these is burl (growth), a defect in the development of trees of different species. In terms of physical and aesthetic properties, processed burl (birch burl is used most often) can compete with valuable types of wood that are not harvested from us, stone, and bone. It is hard, durable, dense, with a characteristic fine structure, which is not difficult to emphasize and enhance using natural finishing and coloring methods in products made from birch burl and other species.

Burls are classified as growths on trees, local thickenings on branches, trunk, and roots. It is formed by highly deformed, twisted wood with many dormant buds. The interweaving of annual layers, the pattern of bud eyes and rings form the visible structure of the wood. And the buds themselves, on and under the surface, form a complex texture, similar to a frozen picture of drops and splashes. The products use both qualities, structure and texture.

Among wood growths, suvel is close to kapu. In it, the wood also forms a complex, but less tortuous pattern and there is no abundance of buds characteristic of burl. Young shoots often grow from the buds on the burl of a living tree. This is not typical for Suveli. The growths can take the form of local and encircling thickenings. They are found both on the visible part of the plant and underground, where the burl is as covered with bark as the trunk of a normal tree. Fresh shoots from “awakened” buds growing from under the ground near the parent tree allow you to find an underground burl (cap root).

Burl growth without special treatment as interior decoration

Burl is a developmental defect in wood. General or the only reason its appearance is difficult to pinpoint. Most likely, burl formation is a complex response of a growing tree to external influences, probably related to mutations. An indirect confirmation of this is the presence of multiple burls on the affected tree and its absence on neighboring ones. Perhaps local damage to the plant or disease triggers the growth (leading to the tree’s protective activity in response). Burl is greater on grafted trees and heavily pruned trees. There are mentions that walnut plantings with grafted trees served as a rich source of valuable burl material. For improvement " psychological portrait"burl uses the concept of a stronger, recovered and immune parent for the tree material. This shifts the emphasis from the growth - disease, to the burl - evidence of the natural growth and “hardening” of the tree. Since the burl is rare, and it is very labor-intensive to conduct a laboratory experiment on the development of the burl, it is unlikely that such a concept has reliable factual foundations.

The burl manifests itself in the irregular formation of wood and bast from the cambium and the abnormal development of adventitious buds. During natural, healthy growth, the cambium forms a new growth layer and phloem. In the burl, the directions of wood growth are not oriented, the wood layers are bent and wrinkled. The birth of adventitious plants and the presence of dormant buds waiting in the wings are a normal consequence of tree growth. Superficial dormant buds can normally develop into shoots. Some end up in the thickness of the tree and, upon awakening, form local thickenings on the trunk. In the case of a burl, the process of bud generation and development is extremely active (by the standards of a tree's life). The buds deform the wood in the thickness of the burl and form a pimply surface.

Wooden clock mechanism in a burl case

Burl is found on many types of trees, most often on deciduous ones. Small burls (burl tops) are cut down from living trees, followed by sealing the cut (garden pitch, clay) to preserve the tree. The growths are also collected during logging. In the past, the production of capo-root products was carried out by cooperatives. Teams of searchers and sawyers were sent into the forest to collect material. In Russia, Vyatka is famous for its burl crafts. In forests Kirov region birch burl was harvested en masse, and the artels employed several hundred people. In mass procurement, the material was usually slowly dried, then sawed into more or less standard blanks, then turned into small-scale products (mainly box-type - boxes, cigarette cases, boxes for board games etc.). At the final stage, the burl was polished, soaked in oil and varnished. If decorative cutting was intended, the burl was first prepared (boiled, steamed), after which it was cut “like a turnip.”

Burl growth on a birch

Dry material is strong and hard, strongly curled, and it is more difficult and difficult to process than healthy wood. It does not delaminate or split. Since burl is more difficult to obtain than regular wood, it costs more. Therefore, they handle burl raw materials more carefully. Although the isotropic, twisted structure of the wood prevents splitting when drying out, fresh burl tops must be dried properly. The workpiece is dried under natural conditions to an air-dry state, the bark is not removed, and the cut is covered with a layer of a substance that prevents rapid drying. For small burl growths, accelerated preparation of raw materials is also used by boiling them (steaming) in water with the addition of salt and shavings. Usually, after prolonged repeated boiling, the bark is easily separated from the cut, and the material itself becomes soft enough for cutting. To protect and finish the finished craft, it is coated with oil, wax, and natural varnishes.

Burls are used to make boxes, caskets, handles of canes and knives, and jewelry. Large burls with less textured surface are sawn into smaller pieces. After finishing (painting, polishing), they can be used independently as tabletops, home decoration elements, and also as a material for finishing the surface of furniture. Typically, larger growths also have a larger texture. Therefore, for small forms, small burls with a fine pattern, collected from the branches and trunk, are especially valuable.

Burl wood is a rare, natural material that develops in the form of growths on the branches, trunks and roots of individual trees, mainly deciduous trees: oak, walnut, maple, poplar, but most often birch. Burls are places where closely spaced accessory and dormant buds grow.

The rarest, most beautiful, durable and, accordingly, the most valuable is the branch burl, which has small dimensions (up to 15 cm in diameter) and a needle-like structure. The most common, less dense and less valuable is the basal burl - caporoot, which can reach gigantic (up to 1.5...2 m in diameter) sizes. The stem burl occupies an intermediate position between the above varieties.

For a long time it was believed that burl was a painful growth on a tree, resulting from the “squeezing” of the buds by sudden and prolonged spring colds, which sometimes occur during the growing season of the plant.

The appearance of growths was also associated with external damage to the bark at the site of one of the dormant buds, where the excess influx of juices is directed, promoting their multiple multiplication.

However, scientists have come to the conclusion that the drip is a biologically normal, protective phenomenon. Burl birch is the most valuable variety of Russian fluffy birch and the formation of a burl on it is a naturally inherited process.

As a result of observations, it was established that the health of such a tree is better than that of others, it is more resilient during the period of spring floods and frequent changes in temperature, and is more stable in the wind.

A real burl, which has an uneven surface under the bark in the form of tubercles, papillae or needles, should be distinguished from an influx (suvel) caused by local deformation of the annual layers of wood. Such influxes have increased density and an interesting, although less impressive, pattern.

The burl has a significantly (50...70%) denser wood than the mother wood with a twisted, multidirectional fiber structure, which, in combination with big amount The above buds form an absolutely unique cut pattern.

A unique combination of properties of burl wood:

The limited natural reserves, combined with the above properties, puts this material at the top of its value among other types of wood, with all its species diversity flora of our planet.

According to some estimates, 1 tree with a burl accounts for, on average, 3000-5000 ordinary trees without a burl.

Due to the high value of the material, since 1959, the Central Research Institute of Forest Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences has been studying the biology of burl and methods of growing it, which has developed a technology for sowing and growing burl birches. A whole grove of such birches was planted in the Moscow region. Since 1967, burl birch was planted in several forestry enterprises of the Kirov region.

Because of its unique beauty, the burls are called wooden malachite!

In general, the smaller the pattern and the larger the size of the burl, the more expensive it is.

About the value of this unique material speaks historical fact, given in the book “Burl Box” (author Nadezhda Perminova): “... in 1837, for a burl growth of twenty pounds (a little more than 8 kg) they paid up to fifty rubles, ...., the same amount was valued at a thoroughbred bull at an agricultural exhibition.”

Today on the world market the price for burl wood(solid wood and veneer) is several times higher than the price of any other, including: oak, elm, walnut, mahogany and any exotic species.

The unique combination of material properties, limited reserves and the uniqueness of the burl pattern in each product, ultimately, determined the generally recognized, high aesthetic value and corresponding consumer price of products made from this wood, which is used in finishing the most luxurious interiors, as well as in the manufacture of products corresponding to this level of utilitarian items.

Each such product initially contains spirit of elitism.

(based on materials from the book “Kapovaya Box” by N.I. Perminova, Gorky city, Volgo-Vyatka book edition, 1984)

The cap is also called the “witch’s broom” - it is small education on a tree, benign in nature. Basically it has the form of a drop from which thin branches grow, collected in a bunch. In the cross section, you can observe a structure of striking knots. Processing the burl is not easy, although it can still be ground and polished. The result of the work has a very attractive appearance.

Some areas of birch burl may give off a mother-of-pearl appearance. In industry it is not of particular value, but is quite expensive due to its beauty and uniqueness.

Sometimes burl can be used as a veneer for furniture, but most often it is burl from exotic trees. But birch burl is used to make beautiful boxes, small women’s jewelry or hairpins, and cigarette cases.

Birch burl has a high-quality texture, so a knife with a wooden handle is very beautiful and expensive.

It is impossible to find two identical burls in nature; even the halves differ from each other. They can be seen on many different trees. In our latitudes, birch burl is highly valued. It does not grow large, the maximum diameter is like that of a large plate.

Due to the dense texture, it is difficult to make any design on the mouth guard, and there is no point.

So that the birch burl can be used for its intended purpose in the future, it is very important to assemble it correctly. To do this, we will provide you with detailed instructions:

Correct processing of birch burl

Very often, when sawing a burl, a unique and inimitable pattern is formed that the master will not want to change. In other cases, the burl after sawing is processed:

• Large burls are almost always sawn, since several items can be made from it at once. The burl is divided into several plates, the thickness of each depends on what kind of object is planned to be made.
• In order to get an excellent drawing in the future, you should think about the cutting angle in advance. The more sleepers there are on the cut, the better.
• When the burl is fresh, the pattern appears weakly, but sawing is much easier.
• To ensure that the drawing appears in full beauty, the cap should be thoroughly steamed before making the item.
• You can steam the burl at home; fine sawdust is suitable for this. To carry out the procedure, take a container of the required size (it is recommended to use an old pan, since the dyes that will appear cannot be washed off). Sawdust is spread in a generous layer on the bottom, and a drip is placed on top. You cannot lay them tightly; there must be a gap of at least 0.5 centimeters. Sawdust is sprinkled on top in a thin layer.
• The placed cap is poured into a saucepan with well-salted water (mostly the bottom layer). The water should not completely cover the workpieces, but only touch them a little. Salt is taken at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. for 1 liter of water. If it’s a little more, it doesn’t matter.
• The prepared cap is covered with a lid and placed on low heat. As soon as the mixture boils, count for about 10 hours and allow the burl to steam well. To avoid troubles, look into the container every hour and add water if necessary.
• After a while, remove the container from the heat and leave to cool.
• After cooling, the workpieces are washed under running water and left to dry. To ensure they dry evenly, they should be turned over every few hours. The drying period lasts about 3-4 days.
• When the workpieces are completely dry, they are again steamed according to the above scheme and dried again. The procedure is repeated up to three times.
• If after steaming the bark does not fall off completely, it is carefully removed by hand.
• It is preferable to carry out the drying procedure outside. The first day they turn it over quite often, on the third day 1-2 times is enough.
• It’s great if it is possible to carry out final drying in a special oven several times.
• If the drip is very large (larger than a basketball), this type of treatment will not work. The drying or steaming process may cause cracks and other damage.
• Boiled as basically divided into parts. Whole growths on birch are treated as common tree– by sanding and varnishing.
• When evaporated, the burl plates acquire the shade of the released components; it can be very diverse (yellow with a golden tint, brown, etc.).
• After treatment, subsequent procedures can be carried out, for example, varnishing or painting.
• Before varnishing, the surface is sanded well using coarse sandpaper, then fine sandpaper. Wood dust is wiped off with a soft cloth.
• The design will appear in all its glory if the tray is treated with wax.

In fact, working with a burl is very painstaking, requiring attention and a lot of time. But what comes out of the work is certainly pleasing. Birch burl makes excellent souvenirs that have an individual and unique design.

What are mouth guards and suveli, how do they differ? How and where to prepare them? How to quickly and efficiently dry growths at home?

Cap

So, first, let's define some concepts.

Cap(aka " witch's broom") is a benign formation on a tree, which is a bunch of thin branches growing from a teardrop-shaped (most often) growth. When viewed in a cross section, it has a texture with pronounced knot cores. It is difficult to process due to the highly curled texture and a huge number of knots. Extremely beautiful , durable, perfectly sanded and polished.

Numerous individual areas have a pearlescent tint. It has no great industrial significance, but is highly valued because of its beauty. If it is used in industry, it is only in the form of veneer for finishing furniture (burls from exotic tree species are mainly used), as well as for the production of small products such as boxes, cigarette cases, women's hairpins, and small jewelry (birch burls). The use of burl on knife handles is considered good taste and is also valued by wood carvers for its unique texture.

It is impossible to find two identical pieces of burl - even halves of sawn burl have different pattern, the growth is so heterogeneous. It grows on many trees (linden, alder, birch, maple, oak, etc.), but the most valuable and beautiful is birch (of those growing in our latitudes). The growth is usually small, at most the size of a volleyball or a large plate.

There is no point in cutting out any pattern on the burl, since the texture clogs everything up.

The photo shows a birch burl. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the cut exactly birch burl(I took these pictures near my native police station, and, as you understand, they wouldn’t let me cut anything down there... But I contrived and found an ash burl; most of the burls are similar in texture and differ only in the color and size of the knots’ cores).

(svil) - as the name implies, the growth was named because of its structure. "Twisted structure"

This is putting it mildly. Suvel is a drop-shaped or spherical growth on a tree (there is also a ring variety that covers the tree trunk around the perimeter), usually grows 2-3 times faster than the tree itself. When cut, it has a texture similar in pattern to marble and mother-of-pearl (this is the main difference from mouth guard; in the future, do not confuse suvel and cap). The presence of mother-of-pearl stains on polished wood creates a beautiful shimmering picture that glows from within. Svil is also poorly processed, like burl, but not as hard. The size varies from the size of a nut to 1.5 meters in height (I myself saw one on a birch tree) and up to 2 meters in diameter (a ring suvel that completely covered the tree trunk).

The font in the Vatican is worth a lot more than a meter in diameter, cut from a single piece of suveli. I myself was once sitting in a chair carved from suveli. It holds fine threads perfectly, but cutting suvel is not recommended. It is better to sand and varnish (impregnate with oil). The product will only benefit from this.

The most valuable is the root or butt fork. The presence of dark veins and clearly defined twisted annual rings. This is a fairytale. BEAUTIFUL, that says it all. Barrel suvel has a finer texture and a more subtle “frosty” pattern. And lighter wood. In terms of strength, butt suvel is slightly superior to trunk suvel due to the structure of the tree trunk. Suvel is durable, beautiful, easy to polish and sand. Well-dried and treated, it begins to “glow” from the inside (with proper impregnation with oils, the wood becomes like amber and even a little transparent). Usually has a color from pale yellow or pinkish-brown to completely ocher-brown. It all depends on the conditions and drying time. The cap has the same colors.

As you can see, suvel is completely different from burl.

- this is a mushroom (not to be confused with the tinder fungus) and we do not need it for our purposes.

Blank

Where to look for growths... Naturally in the forest. BUT! Certain places there is no growth, they grow spontaneously, and the most beautiful growths will be found by the most wide-eyed and persistent. This activity is akin to mushroom hunting - who is more and more e gal forest, he got more.

We cut off the growth. We do this with a sharp saw. Otherwise, you’ll get tired of sawing, and the tree will start to get shaggy. We do not peel off the bark.

I highlight in red:

1. If the growth is a “trunk” or a cap root, then it is better to refrain from cutting it down - the tree may die. It is advisable to purchase such burls and strands during legal logging, when the tree is doomed anyway.
2. It is advisable to cut down the growths in the dry season, ideally at the end of August, beginning of September, before the sap begins to flow.
3. Don't forget to seal the cut on the tree oil paint or wax or something similar.

Drying

So how to dry? The "steaming" method. I’ll say right away that this method is suitable for small pieces of wood: about half the size of a soccer ball or a small log.

1. We take an unnecessary pan (bucket) and throw a piece of wood there. You need to take an unnecessary pan, since during the cooking process a very tricky broth is formed, which is then very troublesome to wash. It’s better to clean the wood of any tatters of birch bark and other fragile and dangling pieces - they will fall off anyway.

   I'm considering exactly birch growth, as the most accessible and beautiful. The remaining growths are cooked using the same technology. The log is accordingly cleaned of any debris and fragile particles. Pour water. It is convenient to do this with a faceted glass (it contains 250 ml). The water should cover the piece of wood by about a centimeter or two. Naturally, the tree floats up, but let’s press it to the bottom and we’ll see everything. It doesn’t matter what kind of water you pour, cold or hot, it will still boil. You can throw as much wood into a saucepan as you like; the volume of an individual piece of wood is important, not the total volume of wood.

2. We take table salt, whatever you don’t mind. We're not making soup. Add 2 large tablespoons per liter of water.
   with a top of salt. You can do more, as much as you like, it’s okay, it’s impossible to overdo it. The main thing is that the water is sickly salty. You can use sea clean water(precisely clean, otherwise it will smell disgusting of mud). The salt will draw sap from the tree, but will not saturate the tree.
3. We find sawdust of resinous wood. Spruce and pine are the easiest to get. We take a saw: and forward. We need two powerful handfuls of sawdust (raking the sawdust with both hands). Precisely sawdust, not shavings from a simple hand plane. The shavings will come from an electric planer (you can get them at the nearest sawmill or plan them yourself). I always use them. They are quite small and can usually be obtained in large quantities and easily. The more resin in the sawdust, the better. And the finer the sawdust, the better. Pour into a saucepan. Sawdust will give the suveli a pleasant ocher color. From soft pink-yellow to ocher-brown. And also see O ly will add strength to the wood and reveal texture.
4. When the water boils, reduce the heat and leave it simmering for 6-8 hours, longer if you have the patience. If the saucepan is large, then you don’t have to turn down the flame, let the water boil and bubble. But you need to watch so that the water does not boil away completely. Salt, sawdust, temperature and time will do their job. Add water as needed. During the cooking process, a red “broth” is formed. And scale. It is better to remove scale immediately. It is very difficult to wash off.
5. 6-8 hours passed (depending on the size of the piece of wood). We take out the piece of wood. We rinse under running water to remove sawdust. Water from the pan
   We throw it out as unnecessary, but you can leave it for next time if you have somewhere to store it. But it's easier to pour out the water. We throw the growth
   on the closet, wrapping it in nothing. Let it cool for a day or two.
6. We repeat the cooking and drying process 2-4 times depending on the volume of wood. To speed up the process, you can use a pressure cooker. The time is reduced to 4-6 hours.
7. During the last cooking, you need to quickly peel off the bark while the tree is hot. Although she herself should fall off by this time. Carefully!!! Hot!!! Use gloves!
8. We throw it on the closet for a week or two. The tree is basically already dry, but let the remaining moisture go away. The tree will “get used” to the atmosphere. After final drying, the tree will become like bone, and it can be cut, sawed, polished. There will be no foreign smell. It will smell only of wood.
9. During the process of accelerated drying of wood, you need to remember that small cracks may appear, and therefore you need to give
   allowance for their removal in subsequent processing.
10. I remind you once again that large pieces cannot be dried like this. Cracked. Necessarily. Verified.
11. After the wood has finally gotten used to the atmosphere, we make a product from it. It is advisable to soak the suvel and cap with oil, and if
    If there is a desire, then wax too. The wood will show its texture, “play,” as they say, and all its inner beauty will appear.

If you have any questions or any clarifications about the technology described above, I will answer to the best of my ability.