Am I missing something?

[Gary Herrmann]

If you read my whiny post on another forum, you know I'm not getting any shop time.

So I perused that auction site.

280707371254

Now, I know amboyna burl is beautiful and all, but. This works out to $728.68 per board foot.

I might be able to get what - 7 pen blanks out of that?

So seriously, what am I missing here?

[Roger Chandler]

I haven't seen that site, but I can tell you.........that is a little rich for my blood! I will turn plane jane wood, and be happy!

[Jeff Nicol]

Gary, Amboyna and the other Australian burls are not such an easy thing to get and harvesting them are a lot of work and not just anyone can harvest them. The harvestors are not allowed to cut the tree down and kill it, and most of the trees are very old so these burls have grown for a long long time, so they are basically antiques before you turn them. Some folks just love to turn the burls of all kinds and if they have a market for the finished works the turn around profit can be 10x the investment of the wood. The very first piece I turned cost me somewhere around $40 and I left it mostly natural edge with the bumps up with a small bowl in the center and a small flared foot to give it lift. The whole thing was about 8"x5"x2.5" thick, I may have had 1.5 hours in the whole thing and sold it the first day on the shelf in the gallery for $175.00. For those in America and other nations where you can't go to the local lumber yard and buy a piece of it, it is attractive and special. So you have to go into it with the knowledge that it is a special piece of wood and that it will comand a good price. But if you are just wanting to turn some for the sake of turning it, buy a couple pen blanks and be happy, it is not for everyone, but is wonderful stuff when it is finished!

Nobody has to turn every kind of wood, but I would sure like to give it a try!

Jeff

[David E Keller]

I've turned a fair number of amboyna burl pen blanks and bottle stoppers, and I absolutely love turning it. It turns and smells great, and the color and figure can be phenomenal. The piece is the auction was top shelf stuff, but I wouldn't have paid the winning bid for it. Like a lot of things on the Bay, if you shop around enough you can find some decent deals. I wouldn't be surprised if that piece was going to be used for knife scales where a little bit goes a long way. If you ever get a chance to turn some amboyna, I'd highly recommend it.

[Gary Herrmann]

Sorry, I was being sarcastic in my first post. I'm well aware of amboyna burl. I am lucky enough to have a good friend who's wife comes from Vietnam. But even buying on that site, I've gotten 2.5 x 2.5 x 12 for $35 more than once.

Perhaps I'm not getting the best figure, but $100 for a pen blank just seems extreme to me.

[Jeff Nicol]

Gary, I would not pay $100 for a pen blank either, but I have found some dandy deals on it here and there, but some guys that have deep pockets will pay what ever for it, and on e-bay some get caught up in the bidding and go crazy. I find it better to just buy it from a supplier and not worry about the hassle of someone bidding it through the roof!

More money than brains, I could try it for a little while.....after I had 2 of everything I would go back to brains and broke!

Jeff

[Scott Hackler]

The last amboyna burl pen blanks I got (and still have 6-7 of them) I milled myself! I bouught a 6x6x2 amboyna burl bowl blank for $35 or $40 (can't remember exactly) and cut that dude up! The bowl blank I got from Pen State Ind (I believe) was about 2/3 burl eyes and the rest was just decent looking wood. I made two Christmas bulbs out of the non-burl side!

Great looking wood and it works extremely well. I would love to have a hundred pounds of it!