Sometimes painful growths appear on the trees, which are popularly called "witch's broom." At first glance, this benign formation in its shape resembles a human head. That is why it is generally accepted that the name of the growth comes from the ancient Slavic word "cap". It means "head" in translation.

Where can you find growths on trees

Caps are found on walnuts and oaks, on aspens, and however, the most common growth is found on birch. Cap is a bundle of thin twigs that grow from a drop-shaped neoplasm. Weigh "witch broom" can be about a ton.

stem? This is a growth that is located directly on the trunk of a tree. What is a kapokoren? This is a growth that has formed at the very root neck of the tree. Sometimes it can be seen above earth's surface. An underground burl grows on the roots. He is found on the run. Releases their cap in early spring. These shoots are not viable and quickly wither. Sometimes burl is found on tree branches.

The beauty of amazing material

If you make a cross section of the burl, you can find its structure, in which the cores of the knots are pronounced. The drawing of such material is always very beautiful. Due to the accumulation of unblown buds, the cut is an amazingly beautiful picture of knots, curls and twisted fibers. At the same time, the pattern for each cap is strictly individual.

The burl formed on trees with a striped texture of fibers and contrasting color combinations is distinguished by its special beauty. Pine growths have such characteristics. However, they are quite rare on these trees.

You can find black dots in the texture of the kapokorn. They are located among the light stem fibers. These black dots are nothing more than non-viable shoots that release underground neoplasms.

Where is cap used?

As a material for carving, the build-up on the tree is not of particular value. Its rugged surface and striped mottled texture interfere with each other. When making crafts in this way, the relief of the carving does not look and the pattern of weaves and stains disappears.

Numerous areas of the burl have a mother-of-pearl tint. That is why this material, which has no special industrial significance, is valued very dearly. Burl products are mainly caskets and women's hairpins, cigarette cases and various small jewelry, bowls and chess and powder boxes, ink devices, and the material is also used to make knife handles.

What is cap in industry? This is a material that is used in the decoration of furniture. In this case, the growths formed on exotic trees are taken and used as veneer.

What is a cap for a master? It is a material that does not warp, crack, shrink or swell and is excellently processed. In addition, it is heavy and durable.

Where to find cap?

Growths grow on trees. Therefore, it is necessary to look for them in the forest. However, it is not so easy, because caps grow spontaneously, and only the most stubborn and big-eyed can see them. You can cut off the build-up only with a very sharply sharpened saw.
It is most realistic to find a cap at logging sites. There, these growths fall into the waste. At logging sites, there are also kapokorni, which you simply cannot find in the forest.

Preparation of material for work

Cap can be found on various types trees. However, the most beautiful and valuable in our area is the growth that has arisen on a birch.

Cap products are not obtained immediately. The material requires some preliminary preparation. How to handle birch burl? To do this, you need to use the steaming method. It is suitable for those growths that are not very large in size. The cap is cleared of debris, placed in an unnecessary pan and filled with water. Then salt must be added to the container. For a liter of water, its dosage is two tablespoons with a top. Salt can be poured and more. She will draw the juice from the tree. With this method, sawdust obtained during the processing of resinous wood species is also used. They need to be put into a bowl. The sawdust gives the burl a pleasant color that can range from yellowish-pink to brownish-buff. The resins found in the sawdust will add strength to the build-up and allow the texture to show up brighter.

After boiling water, the fire should be slightly reduced and the pan left on the stove for six to eight hours. As scale builds up, it should be removed. In the process of steaming, it is necessary to monitor the volume of water in the pan and periodically add it.

At the end of the “cooking”, the build-up is washed from sawdust under running water and placed in a closet for a day or two. After that, the whole process should be repeated at least two to four times. During the last cooking, while the tree has not cooled down, you should peel off the bark from it, and at the end put the growth in a closet for one to two weeks.

Having completely dried out, the cap in its characteristics will become similar to the bone. The material prepared in this way is excellently cut, sawn and polished. At the same time, it will not have any foreign odors.

Making caskets

Crafts made from birch burl in their beauty are not inferior to souvenirs made of wood and even surpass them. Often magnificent caskets are made from this material.

In the process of work, the burl boards are carefully connected to each other, making sure that their texture pattern is similar. A very responsible operation is the manufacture of wooden hinges. This stage requires precise formation of rounded spikes and grooves on the edges of the cover and body of the product. The hinges must fit snugly and accurately. Another difficult operation is drilling holes. In wooden hinges, this is easiest to do with thin steel wire. At the next stage, a lock crashes into the box. The product is almost ready. It should only be puttied, dried thoroughly and coated with alkaline varnish. After completion of these works, the box is treated with polish and wiped with alcohol. The product is polished until the wood acquires and all the veins of its amazing texture play brightly.

cane decoration

Using a cap, you can make a great gift for an elderly person with your own hands. The work can be done even by a novice. Hollow cylinders should be alternately put on a tube or a metal rod, which are previously machined from birch kapokorn. Details should be tightly fitted to each other, creating the impression of a single whole. A carved or smooth birch handle can crown such a cane.

Burl bowl

Various souvenirs can be made from wooden growths. Popular burl products are decorative bowls. A rough blank is made from a little raw material. Next, the blank is left to dry. If small cracks form in it, then they are lubricated with PVA glue. After the final drying, the product is given the necessary shape, it is ground, polished and varnished.

If wood is the most beautiful and most popular natural material, then caps and suveli are a concentrate of this beauty. What an irony: what arborists call “a defect in the shape of a tree trunk” becomes a happy find for skillful hands, who turn suveli and caps into real masterpieces.

Wood burls: what is it?

Wood burl is not only an amazing material from an aesthetic point of view, but also from a botanical point of view. A group of hundreds or thousands of dormant adnexal buds, in the form of tubercles or needle-like growths with a rudimentary ring structure around them, is the cap. Outwardly, it looks like a growth of a rounded shape, or ringing the entire trunk, covered with bark. Sometimes "sleeping" kidneys can wake up and escape from the cap.

Souvelle (left) and burl without bark

Wood burls are typical for deciduous trees - linden, birch, oak, aspen, walnut, elm, but in our latitudes birch burl is most common. Perhaps the birch burl has the most beautiful structure. It is rare to find a burl of coniferous trees.

As for the size of the burl, they can vary from barely noticeable on the trunk, the size of a walnut, to one meter and even two meters. The tree burl is a very rare phenomenon, occurring much less frequently than the burl. Although sometimes two or even several burls can form on one tree. Cap grows for a very long time - we are talking about decades.

The burl that forms near the root is called basal, or kapokorn; the burl that grows on the trunk or branches is the stem.

Why does a burl appear on a tree?

Highly interest Ask to which it is impossible to give a 100% correct answer. - like Chuk and Gek, they are almost always pronounced in pairs. However, they have absolutely different nature education.

Option 1. An adnexal bud appears under the bark, but the bark of the tree is so hard that the bud does not have the strength to break through it. But the growth mechanism has already been launched, plant hormones tend to the place of potential germination, nutrients, which assist in the emergence of many new buds, which also do not have the strength to break through and, thus, the cap grows.

Maple burl texture

Option 2. An adnexal kidney appears under the bark, but due to mechanical damage - a hurricane, a human hand, an animal - it cannot develop normally. And it develops abnormally, with the deformation of the wood structure.

Option 3. An adnexal bud appears under the bark, however, due to spring frosts, viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, and the specific mineral composition of the soil, the tree feeds not a shoot, but a cap.

Be that as it may, the most interesting thing about wood burl is not its origin, but its texture. Let's talk about her.

Wood burl: texture

The main thing that differs between caps and suvels is the presence of a “eye” of knots in caps in a transverse section. The pronounced core of small branches, together with a wavy complex texture, pronounced twisted annual layers, give an incredible, fabulous pattern. Moreover, in nature there are no two absolutely identical caps - neither in shape nor in pattern.

On a fresh saw cut, the texture of the burl is weakly visible, it appears after processing - grinding, polishing, toning. At the same time, the texture of stem burls is finer and more refined than root burls.

After processing, the burl looks more like a stone - marble, malachite - than a tree. In this case, the material acquires a muted luster and pearlescent radiance.

The color of wood burl largely depends on the type of wood and on the place of its formation. The predominant colors in the burl texture range are brown, milky, pinkish, greenish.

Due to the large number of knots and graininess, caps are difficult to process, but they lend themselves well to grinding and polishing.

Wood suveli: what is it?

Wood suvel (wood stubble) is a round outgrowth on a tree of both deciduous and coniferous species, which consists of twisted, deformed wood fibers. There are suvels encircling a tree around, or groups of several suvels on one tree.

Another difference between suvels and burls is that under the bark, woody suvels have a smooth surface, sometimes with bumps, but large, not “pimples”, like those of burls.

The density of suvels is slightly less than that of burls; hence, they are slightly easier to handle.

How are suvels formed on a tree? As a rule, this is the result of an external influence on the tree, as a result of which a wrinkle is formed. Over time, the fold becomes overgrown with sinuous fibers. Suveli on trees are much more common than burls.

Wood suveli: texture

Suveli can have a different texture, depending on the intricacy of the structure of the build-up, however, waves, bends, spots, stripes can be called the predominant figures. After grinding and polishing, the radiance and brilliance of the wood appears.

The color of the suvel can be yellow, brown, gray, pinkish or greenish.

Svili can be stem and root - like burls. Root suvels are valued more because of the pronounced, intricately twisted annual rings and dark veins. Stem suvels do not have such a rich pattern, besides, their wood is lighter.

Masters note that after sensible processing, wood suvels begin to glow from the inside, like amber. The drawing of the suvel resembles marble.

Caps and suveli: use

The use of burls and suvels is primarily decorative. Of course, functional things are made of them, but even them the main task- please the eye, and not be something purely utilitarian.

Rarely used in carving. Their extremely bright texture "eats" the entire carving. In addition, the carving looks cheap on expensive material. As a rule, craftsmen simply grind the material and impregnate it with oil or varnish it.

Suveli and caps are not used on an industrial scale. Earlier in Russia, more precisely - back in the RSSR, there were several enterprises whose workers created masterpieces from suvel and burl. Now, these unique creations of nature go, roughly speaking, into the furnace. For foresters, growths are simply a defect in the wood, a defect in the material.

So, what are products from capa and suvel?

Let's conditionally divide them into three groups - decorative products, functional products and veneer.

1) Decorative products from burl and suvel. It can even be cap or suvel in in kind, just without bark and varnished - a great decor for an eco-style home.

A special place is occupied by sculptures and figurines, especially depicting animals. Why animals? Mouthguards and suveli in texture perfectly imitate the plumage of birds, wool or animal skin. In addition, the natural smooth lines of this material themselves suggest what they can become - it remains only to remove the excess. And here for the picture human faces caps and suveli are not suitable, because they give them an unhealthy look.

Another product made of burl and suvel is a panel. Mouthguards and suveli are such a unique material that it is enough to choose the right tint - and the real picture is ready. However, such material is used in mosaic, marquetry and intarsia.

And, of course, beautiful texture look great on hairpins, key chains, pendants, cufflinks and other jewelry. And bowls, vases, coasters and candlesticks will give any home a sense of luxury and real taste.

2) Functional things from capa and suvel. It can be small furniture, dishes, caskets, snuff boxes, tool handles, office supplies, lamps, frames, chess, canes, watches and much, much more. Of course, such things fulfill not so much their functional requirements as decorative ones. Functional items made of suvel and cap say a lot about the excellent taste of their owner.

Instruction

From each kidney-needle, a large number of which concentrated on a small surface, forming a cap, a branch could grow. Due to the fact that there are a lot of buds, not a single one can get out of the wood. From the collection of buds, a texture is formed that is unusual in shape and pattern. Not a single layer of wood can compete with burl natural beauty, complexity and rarity of the material. The unique birch burl is called wood malachite, there are interesting burls on cherry, bird cherry and walnut. A cap is often called an influx, but this is a misnomer. Professionals can easily distinguish a cap from an influx - a layer of wood of the same tree, but with mixed growth rings. The influx when cut resembles marble with white veins.

Cap is divided into two varieties: needle cap and root cap. Needle is the rarest, it grows very slowly and only in early spring- when the leaves hatch on the trees, its growth stops. When making a transverse incision through the cap, you can find the place of its origin, the pattern will resemble a funnel, tapering towards the center of the trunk - this is the beginning of the needle cap. The large cap is very hard to find and highly prized. Cap-spine is similar in structure to needle-back, but there is a difference in the pattern of wood texture, which is darker and larger. It develops on the roots and in the root zone, on trees growing on moist soil - near streams, swamps and along river banks.

Even because of a large and beautiful burl, it is not worth spoiling a living tree. Moreover, it is not difficult to find this natural anomaly - many burls develop on tree trunks in city parks, on poplars, American maples and lindens. A large number of trees are cut down every year, and it is not difficult to extract burls from them. If the need to remove the cap from a living tree is very great, this is done starting from late autumn and until early spring, while the movement of juice in the tree is slowed down. For sawing, a saw with universal teeth is taken, the cut is made strictly along the trunk, vertically, without affecting the main wood. If the movement of the saw is very difficult, a spacer is made from a pair of wooden wedges that are hammered into the slot. After the cap is completely separated, the saw cut is immediately painted over with oil paint or drying oil. It is useless to paint over a cut made in the spring - the movement of the juice cannot be stopped by this, and the tree will inevitably be very sick.

Burl lends itself well to processing, it does not crack, warp or swell, and besides, its strength is several times higher than the wood of the tree on which it grows. The best way use - immediately after harvesting, clean the cap from the bark and saw it into planks 3-5 mm thick, so that later it can be used for the production of caskets or mosaics. In this option, the use of burl is more optimal, and in the manufacture of various bowls, vases and bowls, most of the material is lost. The most interesting burl pattern is obtained with a chordal cut, as a rule, it is a lot of points, each of which is surrounded by rings of a different shade, and different-color stains flow between the rings.

Sources:

  • Growths on a birch

The texture of the burl often has such a bizarre pattern that you can see a finished image or landscape on it. In other cases, the burl is sawn and processed.

Instruction

If the cap is quite large, and, according to the idea, more than one thing, but several, can be made from it, it is sawn before processing. Most often, a cap is sawn into plates of various thicknesses: the thickness depends on what products are planned to be manufactured. To obtain the best pattern on all blanks, the cutting angle must be thought out in such a way as to cut as many dormant buds as possible. On a fresh cut, the pattern is hardly noticeable, but an untreated cap is easier to cut. But before making it into a product, the cap is steamed so that the drawing shows through completely and it can be shown in the work. It is best to steam the cap in small ones, you can do this in. You will need an unnecessary pan of a suitable size, the dyes released by the wood will be difficult to wash off. Sawdust is placed in a thick layer on the bottom, then a cap is laid out on them - but not close, there should be half a centimeter of gap between the blanks. From above, they are also laid with sawdust, but not in such a thick layer.

It is poured with salt water, but mainly the lower layer, so that the water only touches the workpieces, without completely covering them. Salt is taken per liter about a tablespoon, maybe a little more. Close the lid and put on a very slow fire. After boiling, the workpieces should be steamed for 6-10 hours, water should be added to the pan periodically, checking every hour. The pot is then removed from the heat and left to cool. The blanks are removed from the cooled sawdust, the sawdust is washed off with a jet of water, left to dry, turning over to dry evenly every few hours. Drying usually takes 3-4 days. After the blanks dry out, you need to repeat the process of boiling, then dry again, and so on at least 3 times. If, after three steamings, the bark itself has not fallen off the blanks, it must be removed. After steaming the burl blanks last time and, having removed the bark, leave the wood for the final drying. It is best to dry them outside, turning every few hours for the first 3 days, then once a day. After that, it’s a good idea to dry the workpieces in a special drying cabinet 2-3 times.

Large pieces of a solid burl, larger than a soccer ball, are not suitable for processing in this way. In the process of cooking or drying, the cap will definitely crack, and may burst. Figures from a solid burl are processed in the same way as any tree - they are polished, varnished. Boiling is best for burls that are sawn into thin slices. When steamed, these blanks are dyed with natural dyes in a wide variety of shades, from light golden to chocolate brown. After this lengthy treatment, you can begin to further improve the cap. Finished products are coated with alcohol or acrylic varnishes. Nitro-varnishes can also be used. Before coating, the surface is polished with emery - first large, and then the smallest, and wiped from wood dust with a soft cloth.

Sources:

  • Cap processing

Material, which has long been known in Russia as a tree bone.
It's a growth, see photo 1, (or influx, as it is also called) on the Birch, which is formed on the trunk of a tree for various reasons. For example, weather, climatic influences environment. Also, such an effect can be achieved artificially by wrapping the trunk, for example, with wire, over time it will acquire Suvelya. It was called bone due to the fact that after careful polishing and impregnation with various oils, the tree takes on a bone appearance, and its thin parts are visible through and through.

Photo 1. View of Suveli after sleeping. It looks like a bump or an influx. Initially, it is difficult to judge internal form wood after sawing it.

In most cases, with proper sawing, you can observe amazing phenomena, namely the interweaving of wood fibers that form mother-of-pearl sections of different (unique) in pattern and direction, which literally glow, reflecting daylight in themselves. Patterns and colors can be different, mostly pink-yellow, straw, or brownish yellow with a deep pearly glow on the cut, in some cases there are specimens with a dark brown color with the presence of swamp green hues. This color scheme is explained by the fact that the wood grows in different conditions and terrain, for example: If the growth was sawn down in a very wetland, then the fact that the color of the wood will most likely be brownish-green is not excluded. Or another example: If Suvel is on the butt of a tree (the butt of the trunk is the part that is 10 - 15 cm underground and 15 - 20 cm above it, this is on average) and it is covered with moss, then most likely it will be dark brown with the presence of a pale pink tint, or straw yellow - golden with dark brown growth rings - that is, the presence dark shades will dominate, but not always.

Photo 2. A rare and valuable copy of Suveli natural drying for a period of about 1.5 years. In the photo you see the beam glow of the fibers in daylight. This glow is called "Mother of Pearl", it can be different types, from clear mother-of-pearl beams to those that you see in the rest of the images, there is no limit to the variety.

Photo 3 . This sample is also rare, its main difference from what is on photo 2, it is a marble texture and drying technology, it was dried in a quick way, namely boiling in a salt solution. The photo clearly shows how it differs from what is on photo 2, the one above has a total straw or golden color and on photo 3 the color is predominantly brownish-pink.

Photo 4. Here you see a species that is also rare, but more common than those in photos 2 and 3.

Photo 5. In this photo, mother-of-pearl stains are called ashen or glass. This species is most common, but its value is not lost from this, because everyone has different tastes. Someone likes the beam section, and someone likes luminous ashen stains.

Photo 6. This, as we have already understood, is the radial direction of the fibers with the presence of ashy streaks. (mixed type)

Photo 7. The specimen, which looks like a simple one, but in fact it is not, is the same rare species that grows mainly in swampy swamps, which is why it has such a color.

Photo 8. This is an example of how Souvelle looks in finished form (product) in combination with Reindeer horn and metals. Knife by Valery Sokolov "Svalbard", made in the Scandinavian style.

More, general form of this wood depends on the type of drying (this does not affect the quality of the products), there are several options for drying.
1. Natural, this is when the wood dried up in natural conditions, without human intervention, that is, after sawing it off over time, the tree dried up on its own.
2. Old Russian way quick drying, the wood is boiled in a saline solution for several hours, after which the bark is removed and placed in a dark and dry place for several weeks, this is the minimum, even after that it is quite suitable for processing.
A noticeable difference after these types of drying is the color. With natural drying, the tree remains of a natural color, and after cooking it acquires a gently pink or carrot hue, this is already an amateur, whoever wants it dries it. AT skillful hands a person who has everything in order with fantasy, any piece of wood will shine and look expensive, you just have to really want and connect your imagination.

Souvelle is a material from which various objects can be made, for example, women's jewelry in the form of pendants, earrings, hairpins and bracelets, it depends on how much a person has a developed fantasy. Previously, no, not only before, and now some enthusiasts make cutlery from it, quite suitable for its intended purpose, take Scandinavian “Kuksy” for example, this is something like our mugs, only made of wood, a better material than Suvel not found for this.
But most importantly, this material is most suitable for the manufacture of knife handles. Due to its inherent qualities, such as hardness, density, ease of processing and polishing, unique texture, variety of color shades, beauty of mother-of-pearl weaves, etc. One thing is clear that this material will never get bored, although some will disagree with me, this is their right. I used to make handles only from exotic woods, but they quickly tired me with their monotony and monotony, although to each his own and someone will say and say the opposite. But I definitely learned for myself that there is no better raw material than Birch and what it gives us in the form of Kapov, Suvel, Svili, Koml and the root part.

All samples that you see in the form of bars are ground and polished, then treated with oil for the shelf. This allows you to preserve the natural color of the wood and protect it from moisture and decay + treated with carnauba wax.

The variety of Suveli is very rich, I would say infinite, this material is combined with almost all types of wood, bone, metals, etc.

OlegNA 08-07-2011 13:25

The situation is this. In autumn I go on an expedition to the taiga. We go on boats. Along the way, I will collect interesting specimens of cap and suvel. After returning to the base, all this wealth will be loaded into a container and returned to Moscow with boats and all our personal belongings. After sawing off and before getting into my garage, it will take at least a month and a half, most likely two months. I immediately painted over the place I saw down with oil paint. The question is, do I need to remove the bark? Is it possible to boil it out in one and a half two months after saw cut?

Threat will be mostly birch

sergeant 08-07-2011 13:32

hit any search engine.
Natural drying of wood.

OlegNA 08-07-2011 13:35

So he scored. I did not find the answer to whether to remove the bark or not. I know that it is impossible to keep a birch in the bark, only if it is half. And then I drank the place with paint. This is the most exciting question for me.
Theme if Che one-day. I ask the moderators to remove it tomorrow

AlexDM 08-07-2011 13:43

It is in the bark and with smeared cuts that the birch suvel is drying on my balcony, a year already.

AIS1947 08-07-2011 13:44

quote: I know that it is impossible to keep a birch in the bark, only if it is half.

Who told you this?

OlegNA 08-07-2011 13:48



Who told you this?


I read on Masterovoy that it seems to rot in three months, and a friend said that when they harvest birch for hammers at their enterprise, they must be cleaned of bark.

AIS1947 08-07-2011 14:28

quote: seems to rot in three months

It will rot if left in a wet place or on the ground.
In general, wood is dried in a DRY place.

ALAM 08-07-2011 15:13

the main thing is how you cut it down, don’t bring it into the hut to heat, it will be smashed right away. let it lie somewhere in a cool place under the roof, in a barn, or in a corridor ... and instead of paint, you can use stearin from candles, melt it and soak the cut hot in several steps ...

DECEMBER 08-07-2011 16:03

quote: Originally posted by OlegNA:

Along the way, I will collect interesting specimens of cap and suvel.


Don't get overwhelmed?
Suveli large from a birch is more often not justified. Focus on the size BEFORE the volleyball. Remove the bark ... With uncooked - a problem, however. In autumn it is possible in the bark. Cover the cut. Can be an aerosol can with acrylic paint(a couple of layers with intermediate drying), you can use PVA with the index D-2, D-3. Small ones can be boiled on the spot - at least half an hour or an hour to remove the bark. When it dries (the next day), also spray with paint, but then it is better to transport it in a semi-hermetic bag. Good luck!

AIS1947 08-07-2011 16:12

From Moscow to the taiga for birch burls and suvels - "dipped beam". This goodness in the suburbs in bulk if you look. Yes, and the "Knife Workshop Flea Market" trades regularly.

OlegNA 09-07-2011 14:32

I admit I didn't word the question correctly.
"How to bring cap and suvel to the place of drying, so as not to crack. Delivery time is 2 months" - so it will probably be more correct.
Special thanks to DECEMBER and ALAM. I’ll probably remove the bark from half, no. I'll cover up the cuts. I won't even take them out of the boat. Let them lie in dampness. I’ll put it in a pile in a container, I won’t cover it.

quote: Originally posted by AIS1947:

From Moscow to the taiga for birch burls and suvels - "dipped beam". This goodness in the suburbs in bulk if you look.


I'm going to the taiga for the fog, and collecting the cap is along the way, so to speak, useful with pleasant.

Alexey S 09-07-2011 14:53

"The main thing is, how to cut it down, do not bring it into the hut to heat, it will be pricked right away. Let it lie somewhere in a cool place under the roof, in a barn, or in a corridor."
- In January, I sawed off three suveli, I immediately welded one, and everything is ok with it. And the other two left in a cold barn for slow natural drying. In the spring I looked - you can send for firewood, cracked.