Blackduck woodcarver Jim Schram and a few of his students carved up a new tradition the Blackduck Woodcarvers Festival.The festival celebrated 25 years Saturday with about 50 woodcarvers from across Minnesota and Iowa displaying, demonstrating and selling their handiwork, including Schram.
Burl is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. Burls are the product of a cambium. A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be environmental or introduced by humans. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over. Such burls sometimes appear as groups of bulbous protrusions connected by a system of rope-like roots. Almost all burl wood is covered by bark, even if it is underground. Insect infestation and certain types of mold infestation are the most common causes of this condition.
Furniture is made of burls of trees. Burl wood is fairly rare as all trees will not develop Burls naturally and it requires some type of external force to create the burl on the tree. Furniture made from burls has a very distinct grain is is very attractive. This is the reason furniture made from burl wood is becoming so popular.
