Walnut Burl. how do you saw this and what is it worth?

[doc henderson]

I have a buddy with several walnut trees.  we got sap from him two years ago to make syrup.  a tree near his property has a huge burl and he said it belonged to his neighbor.  We have had each others number for a few years.  I did not want to make it that I was "after his highly valuable walnut tree".  he turned out to be a reasonable guy with a father in law that was asking if we were gonna get off our cans and cut this tree. I told him my not acquainted saw price is 100 bucks and hour.  what is the tree worth so we can fairly divide the proceeds.  and what is the best way to approach sawing.  is the burl worth more?  and I guess that depends on how it saws out and if there is rot or bark inclusions.  He is retired fire guy.  We are now acquainted so will work a deal where no money trades hands likely.

[kkcomp]

Normally I would be asking your advice on things like this  In the case of a burl if you can find someone with the capability I would say it is worth way more being turned into veneer than any other kind of milled lumber.

[doc henderson]

had a moment getting the pics to upload.  powered the phone down.  



 

 

 

 

[Walnut Beast]

Looks pretty cool!! There has been many discussions on the Forum about burls. It's worth as much as someone is willing to pay as Beenthere would say.l Is the burl big enough for bowl blanks, 1-3" slabs and so on. The worth is going to be what you produce out of it and what you can sell it for

[doc henderson]

the tree is 36 inch plus at the bottom.  the burl is about 6 feet long and makes the whole tree/log/burl area too big too fit in my gantry of my mill.  is there an orientation for a burl?  it is very course and I wonder if there is bark inclusions in it.  looks like it overgrew a limb that fell or was taken off.  want to get the best material we can.  retired firefighter that owns the property and his father in law is interested in what we get.  he (FIL) is in his 80s.

[Walnut Beast]

Exciting for sure!!! That would be cool to put that baby on the side and slice it up live edge but that's not going to happen on your mill. How about the Jake special and cut in half and get her on to slice

[Crossroads]

Can't wait to see pictures 

[jpassardi]

 I'm looking forward to pictures also. I understand your point in wanting to process it into its most valuable final pieces as it is uncommon.

[GAB]

Personally I would try and sell it whole.  That is one of those pieces that in the hands of the right artisan is worth a lot.
GAB

[Larry]

If that belonged to me I would probably saw off the burl with a chainsaw than re-saw on my shop bandsaw.  I would be thinking about sawing knife scales, pistol grips, wood for small boxes, and a few bigger pieces to turn on the lathe.  All for my own use.

When I got a burl like that, I always thought I had struck gold but sometimes they are junk.  Reality sunk in that I also had to find a buyer when they turned out good.  Finding a buyer was always harder than finding a burl! :D  Ebay was the best market but lots of competition these days.  

[rusticretreater]

You really answered your own question.  When it is lopped off the tree and you can view the wood and its figuring, you will know if its worth something.

Tree Burl Value - How to Determine the Cost of Burl Wood  

[T A Derrickson]

Several years ago I was approached by a client saying that he knew of a fellow that had a huge Cherry Burl that was interested in having slabbed. He connected us, and we made arrangements to mill this Burl. The day came, and I drove out to his farm, noticed about a dozen fellows hanging around as I arrived. Thought to myself - something is up. Once I pulled in, the owner of the Burl approached me and said there might be a problem. Ohh, I said. He said that one of these fellows here had offered him $1000 for the Burl as is. He wanted to know what I thought. I told him it was his Burl and he could do as he pleases. My client who had originally connected us was there also. He asked to go up to the Burl and look at it. He then asked me what I thought it was worth. I replied, all depends.... What someone is willing to pay for it, and what it looks like once it is opened up. He then asked me to speculate as to what it would be worth if when opened up it was perfect. I said; if it's perfect you it might be worth $4000 - just threw that figure out there to see what they would say. The owner of the Burl turned to the fellow who wanted to buy it and asked him if would give him $4000 for it. The fellow said yes!!!  Turns out he is a renowned carver - and already had a client lined up for it. He paid the owner the money - cash on the spot. He then took out his chainsaw and proceeded to lay into that Burl!! I couldn't believe it. Original owner of the Burl paid me for my time and travel. I do have pictures, but can't figure out how to load them. If anyone wants to see, or wants the number of the carver who bought it - shoot me a DM. 

[Jeff]

For not knowing how to post photos here, you sure have a bunch in your gallery.

[rusticretreater]

Guess that giant add photos to post button below the box you type things into didn't catch your eye. 

[T A Derrickson]

So I'm out in the field with my cell phone - challenged for sure!

[T A Derrickson]

 

 

[T A Derrickson]

 

 

 

[moosehunter]

Cool burl and carving.
mh

[Brad_bb]

I know Burl expert, but just depends what YOU want to do with it.   I did post the highly burled walnut log on here that I had milled a few years back.  It had Burls every 20 to 25 inches or so alternating back-and-forth on each side of the log.  I decided to have the Logs slabbed and needed somebody with a wider Mill to do it. The guy I had mill it I think's name was Dan Cassens here in Indiana. This allows me to make tables with the slabbed pieces, I can split them down the middle and flip them so that the barrels are to the inside like a river table. The neat thing I found was that all the barrel cuts before we got into the log, essentially Burl cookies, i'm putting in a mold to pour Epoxy For a burl walnut table for our tack room.  I can tell I'm going to need to use some water thin epoxy on the cookies to seal them up to reduce the air bubbles they would form.  I'll be able to get at least four or five tables from this log.  Smaller barrels can be for Bowl turning.  Or is someone mentioned you could make veneer. In any case you never know what you're gonna get until you cut it, so don't overpay.