Here is an oak burl that my step dad just cut down. For those of you that have harvested burls before how good do you think the figuring in this will be. He says it is an oak tree. He is in Michigan and I am in Maryland so I have no idea. I will be there next week to check it out though. He said the trunk where he made the cut is about 28" in diameter, so that is one large burl. I am thinking if the figure would be good enough it would be worth slabbing for table tops, otherwise maybe some bowl blanks. Any ideas please let me know, as I have no experience in this matter.
Large Oak Burl
- Thread starter gatornick
- Start date
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wolftat
Product Reviews Manager
The main problem with a burl is that you never know what you have until you cut into it.
greenmtnguy
Local Chapter Leader
Ain't that the truth. It will either bug your eyes or break your heart. After the first cut or two you will know if it is solid.
babyblues
Member
If it's solid, definitely try to slab it for table tops. Judging from the size and the fact that it wraps around the tree, you're likely to get some bowl blanks out of it anyway. You can always cut the slabs into bowl blanks if you don't like the way they look. But if it's solid enough, it won't matter how crazy the figure is, oak burl table tops are beautiful.
LandfillLumber
Member
You can open a burl and find gold or nothing but dust.I know its happened to me both ways.What is your location in Michigan?I'm in Warren just north of Detroit.Post some pics when you get it cut up I would love to see whats inside.That is a very large burl for a oak tree.Is youe step dad a tree cutter?Or just come off his land?I'm always looking for logs.Good luck,Victor
Victor - I live in MD, but he lives near Grand Rapids. This was on his neighbors property. At first he was going to just take a chunk of burl off of the trunk, but they told him just to cut it down as they will use the rest of it for fire wood(they heat their house with wood). Now we are trying to decide if it is worth paying a sawmill to slab it, or if we are going to just try and cut it up ourselves. It sounds like it is hit or miss on burl quality, but I think I will kick myself if we don't take the risk and get it cut right.
altaciii
Member
I would love to see what mother nature has put inside. Please post some pics when you do cut it up.