Burls

[BlackSmith]

Found this one today, never seen one this size. Pardon the cell phone picture.

 

[woodworkingboy]

What species?

I dig me a good Burl. The seat here is Laurel or Bay wood. Umbellularia Caifornica. Native California hardwood, and super nice material for woodwork. Cool fresh scent too.

 

[Burnham]

Stig will arm 'rassle you for it, Jay .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Can you thigh wrestle, remember I'm a cyclist.

 

[SoonerFan]

Indian leg wrestle...

 

[woodworkingboy]

Then I'm throwing down the glove. He's a vegee too, and I consume meat.

 

[BlackSmith]

Not sure of the species Jay. I took that picture from about 80' away. The burl looks to be around 4' in diameter. You could fit a five gallon bucket in that hole easily.

 

[PCTREE]

I think that photo could be one of the worst Ive ever seen/not seen

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hahahahaha!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Then I'm throwing down the glove. He's a vegee too, and I consume meat.

I'm in Jay's corner!!!

 

[woodworkingboy]

Thanks MB, you can be my cut man.

 

[stig]

I'll gladly give it up to Jay.
Postage would kill me, but then it probably would kill Jat, too.

Burls are so cool to work with.
Like Forest Gump says: " You never know what you get!".

I just found some completely unique ash burls, I've only seen something like it once before, and that was in the same forest.
My guess is that it is a genetic trait, that is unique to that population of ash trees.

Since our ash trees are going extinct, it won't matter.

But the knifemakers are lining up to buy handle stock from it

 

[gf beranek]

Why are the trees going extinct, Stig? Beetle?

 

[Mrs.B]

I like this burl. I got a little apprehensive sitting beneath it.

 

[squisher]

I know where there's a big burl not to far from where I live but it's about 750' down a fairly steep hillside, it was on a stump where the tree was felled above it.
We said we were going to cut it off the stump and yard it up before we moved roads, but then it never happened and only became further and further away. I'd bet it's still around as I don't know how in the hell you'd get it out of there.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Helicopter!!!

 

[Underwor]

Here is a dandy on a Burr Oak at the Minot Zoo.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Lordy!!!

 

[woodworkingboy]

Friggen mushroom cloud is what that is!

 

[stig]

Why are the trees going extinct, Stig? Beetle?

Fungus.
An imported relative to oak wilt.
I don't think there will be any ash trees in this country in 5 years.

The silver lining to that cloud is the the Chinese buy ash logs as fast as we can fell them, right now.

You would not believe the amount of ash we have felled this winter.

 

[Tucker943]

On my father in laws farm, there is a white oak, about 4' dbh with a burl on it that is a perfect half sphere and no less than 3 feet in diameter. I always wondered if it was worth anything.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Aren't ALL big burls worth something?

 

[Tucker943]

I suppose. I couldn't take a guess at the value....$20? $200?

 

[SouthSoundTree]

That big, I'd GUESS more than $200.

 

[stig]

Depends on the grain figure.
Lots of perfecty half sphere burls are just layered growth rings, started by a little irregularity like a cancer or fungal infection.

Those are pretty worthless.

But sometime a boring looking half sphere turns out to be full of the most amazing figure.

This one sat around my shop for 1½ years, because I didn't think it was any good. Quite the surprice when I finally opened it.