Wooden Jewelry Boxes and the Beauty of Oak Burls
Wooden jewelry boxes in addition to their strength and durability, exude an unbeatable elegance and charm.
A handcrafted box acts as a conversation piece, a showcase, and as a safe place for expensive jewelry.
Crafting jewelry cases from straight wood in quite easy, but working with burl wood needs considerable skill.
Burls are found on a variety of trees; oak, maple, mahogany, walnut and others.
A burl is essentially an additional growth on the tree that may have been caused due to some stress.
Buds, if injured or stressed have their growth stunted and the bark of the tree grows over it forming a burl.
A burl needs to be cut carefully from a tree to ensure that its pattern remains intact.
A portion above and below the burl are marked off and only then it is cut.
The bark is then separated from the burl and sliced open based on the pattern.
They will also need to be milled once they are harvested.
Burls are expensive irrespective of the wood they come from.
They are used in veneers as well.
Because of their indefinite shape, some burls can be carved easily and others require a serious amount of skill and concentration to create something unique.
Oak burls come in a range of colors with red, white, and black being the most commonly used.
Of all the varieties, the American oak burl is the only one that can be subjected to staining.
Often choosing from this spectrum of colors becomes difficult because each one is so beautiful.
Specialized machinery is sometimes used to cut some innovative designs into these burls.
The uniqueness of the grain and the live edges are what determine the shape and size of the box to be created from it.
In general, boxes made from oak burl can be medium-sized at best and not larger.
The reason for this is the basic nature of burl wood.
The grain is irregular and you will find voids in it as well.
Sometimes seasonal wood movements too influence how big the box is to be made.
Although oak burls are hardwood, they can easily be worked on with the right set of tools.
Good quality oak burl boxes are made especially strong with a unique method of using mitered joints.
These are used along with a spline and rabbet joints.
All burl boxes are lined with a soft material to better protect the special trinkets that you store in them.
Oak burl wood is expensive simply because it is rare.
The amount of effort that goes into creating something unique from this wood, adds to its price.
An oak burl box is a style statement.
So go ahead and make a statement of your own with one of these exceedingly charming jewelry boxes.
A handcrafted box acts as a conversation piece, a showcase, and as a safe place for expensive jewelry.
Crafting jewelry cases from straight wood in quite easy, but working with burl wood needs considerable skill.
Burls are found on a variety of trees; oak, maple, mahogany, walnut and others.
A burl is essentially an additional growth on the tree that may have been caused due to some stress.
Buds, if injured or stressed have their growth stunted and the bark of the tree grows over it forming a burl.
A burl needs to be cut carefully from a tree to ensure that its pattern remains intact.
A portion above and below the burl are marked off and only then it is cut.
The bark is then separated from the burl and sliced open based on the pattern.
They will also need to be milled once they are harvested.
Burls are expensive irrespective of the wood they come from.
They are used in veneers as well.
Because of their indefinite shape, some burls can be carved easily and others require a serious amount of skill and concentration to create something unique.
Oak burls come in a range of colors with red, white, and black being the most commonly used.
Of all the varieties, the American oak burl is the only one that can be subjected to staining.
Often choosing from this spectrum of colors becomes difficult because each one is so beautiful.
Specialized machinery is sometimes used to cut some innovative designs into these burls.
The uniqueness of the grain and the live edges are what determine the shape and size of the box to be created from it.
In general, boxes made from oak burl can be medium-sized at best and not larger.
The reason for this is the basic nature of burl wood.
The grain is irregular and you will find voids in it as well.
Sometimes seasonal wood movements too influence how big the box is to be made.
Although oak burls are hardwood, they can easily be worked on with the right set of tools.
Good quality oak burl boxes are made especially strong with a unique method of using mitered joints.
These are used along with a spline and rabbet joints.
All burl boxes are lined with a soft material to better protect the special trinkets that you store in them.
Oak burl wood is expensive simply because it is rare.
The amount of effort that goes into creating something unique from this wood, adds to its price.
An oak burl box is a style statement.
So go ahead and make a statement of your own with one of these exceedingly charming jewelry boxes.
