Biggest burl I've ever seen...advice needed...

[Damon Stathatos]

I received a call from someone who is looking to move this cherry burl. He claims that the largest dimension is 35". He's driving it out to my shop tomorrow morning. It was cut about two weeks ago. I don't have extensive experience with burls and need advice. Please give me advice with regard to worth, what to look for, and possibilities with this burl. Thanks in advance for your help in this matter.

[Scott Hackler]

OH NO! Cut two weeks ago???? Well it is likely cracked and checked like crazy now, so "worth" is going to be relative to the % of the burl that the cracks haven't destroyed. Seriously, I wouldn't pay too much for a checked/cracked burl and take some anchorseal or latex paint (at the least) to coat the ends to at least slow down the already started drying process.

[curtis rosche]

that burl will be bad, ship it my way. you can use any cracks as a design feature with some coffee grounds

[Bernie Weishapl]

+1 what Scott said. When you get it if you don't cut it up right away I would seal it immediately.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Seriously, the burl's value was two weeks ago. There look to be quite a few serious checks in the piece above it, and likely in the burl itself. Yes, burls are valuable, but is the burl usable?? You never know what its going to look like inside. Burls are really only worth a lot if they are processed and sealed immediately; meaning, so you can see what's on the inside. It might be worth a lot, it might not. I've seen cherry burls that looked terrible inside, and others that didn't look like much turn out gorgeous. If he insists on $500, tell him keep going. I might offer the guy $100, or $200 if it looks spectacular and isn't cracked. He might want a lot more. Burl dealers get primo $$$ for their burls, yes, but they are doing all the processing work, and likely aren't paying anywhere near the $ you think they are for them. The really high $$ burls are cut for the veneer industry. Just don't get taken advantage of, and don't try to swindle the guy either. It is probably worth more than a bowl for his trouble though.

[Wally Dickerman]

I've cut tons of BL maple burl but have very little experience with cherry burls. The log on top of it hides much of the cut surface so we can't really see what it looks like. If it's 35 inches in dia there are a lot of probably nice blanks in there. As far as cracking is concerned, it shouldn't be bad. Burls cut in the fall aren't nearly as prone to cracking as summer cut burls.
As far as telling what it's worth, the pic doesn't tell much at all.

I suggest that you offer him $100 and see what happens. $200 might not be out of line if it looks really good to you. Burls however, can be a crap shoot.

Burl dealers sell burl by the pound which really doesn't make a lot of sense. Nobody's convinced me that wet burl is worth more than dry burl.

[David Reed]

What everyone else said plus: how far into the piece does the burl figure extend? I have some BLM burl over two feet deep and others merely wrapping around the tree trunk and only a few inches deep.

[John Keeton]

Damon, here is my take on it. I have used a lot of burls, but not many cherry burls. Nonetheless, in addition to the concerns expressed regarding cracking (cherry is notorious), this burl is more of a conglomerate of several burls and that will effect the usability and figure considerably. Neither does it appear to have a heavy ray/eye pattern to it, but more of a subdued swirling pattern. Some like that, however, but I prefer a surface that is covered consistently with eyes - gives a much better look in a form.

That said, there is a lot of potential here, but there is also a lot of that cross section that is not going to be heavily figured. In the pic, there are also several lengths that also appear to be burled - you might want to consider an offer on all of them in hope of getting a better overall deal.

[George Guadiane]

Over the years, I have both bought and sold quite a bit of cherry burl (and lots of other woods).
Having been cut two weeks ago IS a problem. If it was stored endgrain up the cracking could go in 4 or 5 inches. You might be able to make bottle stoppers and the like out of some of that stuff (in between the cracks).
Looking at the end grain on both sides, you can see how far in the burl goes. That will give you SOME idea of how much usable burl their might be. HOWEVER, until you cut it up you have no idea whether the wood is bark included or worse, critter infested. I bought and sold a burl once and had to replace it because it was FILLED with a gigantic ant farm.

In my opinion, value depends on the condition of the wood. At what point in the process are you buying it?
Hunk on the ground is worth considerably less than the waxed blank on the table. The more work you have to do before the piece of wood gets on the lathe the less value it has to me. If you have to do the work, you should "pay yourself" as part of the price.
I paid $75.00 for the first BIG burl (over 200 pounds) I ever bought. I was scared to death to make the offer but they wouldn't tell me how much they wanted. Once I offered, the father told the son to take less because most loggers know they get left in the woods or in the burn pile. You're in California, how often do you see cherry out there? If it is a "rare" burl for your area, that makes it worth more... It IS a very nice material to turn.
If you have a chainsaw, bandsaw and the experience to get good results, make your offer based on:
How much usable burl you think there is - how many primary pieces you can get out of it - don't count the "scraps" (small pieces you can use but shouldn't have to pay for)
How much work you have to do to get the wood ready for the lathe

If you DON'T have the tools, figure that you're going to have to find someone who does and give them part in exchange for helping you.

I'm guessing that the usable size is probably around 18 inches by 35. Figure how big you like to turn, how many pieces you'll end up with in that size. Then figure out how much it would cost from the cheapest source you can find. Then figure that you are doing at least half the work to get it on the lathe and pay half the lowest retail price (less about 20% in case you make a mistake).

Hope I didn't ramble too much.

[Cory Norgart]

Hi Damon, to tell you the truth, there doesnt seem to be much burlwood on that stump, mainly trunkwood, which, of course, is not worth as much as burlwood, its not even in the same catagory. I do disagree tho with a couple of the above responses. Burlwood "is" sold by the pound, green wood "is" worth the same as dry wood (when it comes to burl, not trunk). Any burl dealer in his right mind "will" price the wood when it is green and the price stays the same even when dry. "Most" people that have worked with burl will like some moisture when working with it, anyone that cares about fatigue on themselves and there tools anyways. If you are looking to resell this, you wil loose your butt if you charge by the foot. A few checks on top I beleive are not really a concern, it will probably be mostly surface checking, and probably more on the trunk than on the burl. If I were you, I would pay no more than .50/lb on the stump. Slabbed up or capped out I wouldnt go any more than $1-&1.50/lb, thus, you could turn it over for around $2-$3/lb. If cut into blocks, your looking at alot more per pound. But once again, the burl to trunk ratio scares me on this one, you could have a 250lb peice of wood, but only 30lbs of burl. Plus, the burlwood that is on this peice looks kinda narley and will probably not produce many large peices. Hope I could help. There is alot that I can't say on here , but I would still like to help you make this purchase, it seems you really want this peice, feel free to contact me. Ive added some pictures to add to your list of biggest burls youve ever seen;)

[Reed Gray]

I have some cherry burl that is beautiful, nice pointy things on the edges and lots of color and figure. I got some other burl once, and it looks like that one. It was more of folded over wood grain with lots of sap pockets, inclusions, and holes. Pretty much worthless. I wouldn't be able to tell till I cut it up. Either slice off a slab about 1 to 2 inches thick off one end to remove cracks, or cut it in half. It is fire wood till some one makes some thing out of it.

robo hippy

[Damon Stathatos]

Thank you to everyone who replied to this post. The thought, time, and advice given is very much appreciated and is one of the things that make this forum such a great place.

Due in part to the responses here, I texted the guy early this morning and called off the meeting. I had garnered from him last night that he was in a very tough spot financially and wanted to save him the gas money as well as his time as he was over an hour away from me. Along with the information I was receiving from all of you here, I began a ‘crash course’ in burls by phoning (read: waking up) everyone around here that could give help me with this. What it really came down to, in the end, was if I already had the proper equipment to cut this dude up, then it may be worth ‘a shot,’ otherwise, it could become the proverbial ‘boat’ (money drain) to find out whether it was a mistake or not.
This was all very consistent with the advice here.

I say that the decision was made in part due to the information I was receiving. There is yet another part to it that would have resulted in a cancelled meeting regardless, even if this was the leprechaun burl with buried gold inside. The ‘burl guy’ had called me last night as I was on my way home. He had been referred to me so his phone call was an introductory one. I spoke with him for quite some time (read: long, long time) and after arranging our morning meeting, he agreed to send an email photo which was the one I originally posted. I then went about trying to figure the whole thing out with my post and began phone calls to my local sources. As the night began to wear-on, I was made aware that this burl would come with ‘baggage.’

First was a call back from burl guy to make sure that I had received his email photo and a reiteration of our meeting time and place. Then began the text messages from burl guy with everything from a confirmation of our confirmation to would it possible for me to meet him, not in the morning, but still last night. Since it was now close to midnight, it was becoming apparent that he had problems beyond unfortunate finances and a wayward burl. On one of the subsequent phone calls, I actually put the phone down on the table, left and returned maybe ten minutes later, and doubt that the guy had even taken a breath in the interim.

In one particular ‘spurt’ of text messages, began more photos. The photos are tempting enough, if nothing else to try to figure a way to slab out some of this wood, but I’m afraid that the additional ‘baggage fee’ precludes me from pursuing it. In my hour-long ‘I'm not interested’ phone conversation today with burl guy I do believe that he may have finally gotten the message That plus my coughing up of everyone I could possibly think of (read: throwing-under-the-bus) of other people he could approach with his wood. Hopefully none of you-all are contacted, but if I’d have had any of your phone numbers, who knows what I would have done under such duress.

Man…I thought importing wood was tough…in retrospect…a walk in the park… comparitavely.

Thank you again to all and as always, my best.

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[Steve Busey]

Wow, quite a story. Maybe he had to get rid of the wood in a hurry before the owner of that nice cherry orchard started missing it! :eek:

[Baxter Smith]

Neat story. Too bad it didn't work out. Some very interesting pictures!

[David E Keller]

Hmmmm... I don't know what he wanted for this stuff, but some of the logs in those last set of photos made me drool all over my phone! Wow, that's some neat looking burl!

[Rich Aldrich]

Most of the burls I have done are cherry. If you are into DNA soaking, leave it in for at least 3 to 4 days for the best results. Then bag it for about a month. I cant speak for the cracks that are in the burl. Most of my burls are whole with a bit of tree left sticking out both ends, so they dont have much chance to dry out.

I have yet to have one crack that wasnt cracked already. Epoxy and instant coffee have worked well so far. Lately, I have turned a few that have had areas that were more of a powder from starting to rot (on the tree). When they are dry, I'll probably have to add some glue to those areas, but they should finish ok.

[John Keeton]

Damon, probably a good decision in the end given the "other factors", but as I commented earlier, the wood in the other logs is much more interesting than was the original cross section piece. Shame it didn't all come together for you, but the stuff does grow on trees, you know!!;)

[Damon Stathatos]

...Shame it didn't all come together for you, but the stuff does grow on trees, you know!!;)

John, right you are and a path that leads to madness, for some.

It was quite like being suddenly immersed into the movie, 'Fatal Attraction,' something like that. Believe me, I've got the wood 'sickness' as bad as anybody but sometimes, 'it just ain't worth it.'

Very glad that you're feeling better and hope all is well.