Buck Eye Brul?

[dlbristol]

I volunteer at the VA in a craft therepy class. Some one donated a bunch of buckeye burl to the therepy department. They were to be used as clocks. I volunteered to cut the "mortise" to hold the clock movements in the back of the pieces. I had no idea what the wood was when I said yes to the craft teacher. I have never seen this wood before, and want to know if there is anything I need to know about this stuff before we start to work with it.

It is old stock and very dirty. Mostly dust, but some mud dobbers in the voids. How should we clean it? It there any concern with the dust, other than normal? What stains are usable? We are severly limited in the kind of materials we can use. One piece is finished with " a pour on poly finish".
It forms a thick clear finish. Anyone know what it might be?
This is interesting stuff!! I was pretty releaved to find that it is not really hard stuff. I assume that it will require nothing special to drill or route the pocket for the clock works. Thanks

[a1gutterman]

Regarding the thick pour on finish: A lot of clocks that I have seen were finished with fiberglass resin. The resin seems to help hold the wood together. It is pretty too.

[dlbristol]

Thanks,I will look into that at my favorite painting supply store. It is beautiful stuff to be sure. I just wish I could find out more about it. It is way too rough to just brush off and I am afraid to get it damp. It is very soft, almost "punky", like older aspen gets. It has been stored in a shed here in western Colorado for 8-10 years, We really whine when we get to 10% humidity in the summer, so it is dry,dry dry! I'm concerned that if I can't clean it up, it won't look as nice as it could. We usually work with kits that are nice, but yield results that are , well, kits. These offer the possibility of a really nice project.

[charlese]

I volunteer at the VA in a craft therepy class. Some one donated a bunch of buckeye burl to the therepy department. They were to be used as clocks. I volunteered to cut the "mortise" to hold the clock movements in the back of the pieces. I had no idea what the wood was when I said yes to the craft teacher. I have never seen this wood before, and want to know if there is anything I need to know about this stuff before we start to work with it.

It is old stock and very dirty. Mostly dust, but some mud dobbers in the voids. How should we clean it? It there any concern with the dust, other than normal? What stains are usable? We are severly limited in the kind of materials we can use. One piece is finished with " a pour on poly finish".
It forms a thick clear finish. Anyone know what it might be?
This is interesting stuff!! I was pretty releaved to find that it is not really hard stuff. I assume that it will require nothing special to drill or route the pocket for the clock works. Thanks

I can only guess what your burl looks like, but if there are soft spots these are either overgrown bark or rot. I am supposing you will want to put on a finish prior to applying the finish. If you are using round clocks, you'll be using a Forstner bit. You also might plan to apply the finish after making the mortise.

For Cleaning - I recommend mineral spirits, liberally applied and brushed into the mud dobbers residue and dirty spaces. Then let dry. It should dry overnight.

There are several clear finishes that might work to your specs. The first on I think about is "Wunder Coat" from Rockler. The second is fiberglass resin. The third, (no experience here) is Mod Podge from Michaels Crafts.

Wunder coat is very easy to use with a foam brush. Just pour it on and spread it out.

Mod Podge is advertised as water based glue, sealer and finish all in one.

[dlbristol]

Thanks, I have no clue with this stuff. I tried just washing the stuff with water. I dropped one of the pieces and broke it, so I figured what the heck? It just soaked it up like a sponge! It may work, but we will see. I will try the mineral spirits tomorrow. One of the biggest issued is that we can't use anything not on the approved list in terms of glues or finish. We can get some new stuff approved, so I will look into your suggestions.
Thanks