Kansas sycamore burl

Tom the Sawyer · January 26, 2013, 01:48:47 PM

I was on a site visit near Lawrence, Kansas this morning for a potential sawmill client and we were driving around the property looking at trees when he said, "ever seen anything like this."

It was a huge sycamore burl. I had the client stand next to it for perspective (sorry, only had my cell phone for pics).

It is about 7' tall and aboiut 7' wide. There is some decay on one side that is pretty deep but there is still a lot of wood in this burl.

From the opposite side...

I told him that burls like that were very rare and that, although I didn't have any idea what it was worth, I would put it on the forum and see if anyone had any comments.

DanG · January 26, 2013, 02:00:59 PM

Wow, that thing is huge! Why don't you offer to saw it up for him? It would be worth a lot more once buyers could see the inside, assuming it would be as spectacular as we imagine.

I just had a thought that would be a fun way to dissect that thing. If you could gather up enough woodworkers and bowl turners, you could saw the thing up and auction the pieces off as they come off the mill. Make a cut, sell a piece, then make another cut. Typically, the best a piece of wood will ever look is right when it comes off the saw, and the buyer would take the risk of drying defects. ;D

Burlkraft · January 26, 2013, 08:55:41 PM

That is an awesome burl They are not as rare as you might think. That has a bunch of punk in it but in the right hands with some meticulus dissecting there should be plenty of turning blanks and some slabs too. Jeff and I looked at a huge burl in Da U P. About the size of a VW. I offered the guy 500.00 and he turned me down. That was a few years ago. The burl is still rotting away in his driveway.
Its worth a lot more processed than whole.

Autocar · January 26, 2013, 08:56:46 PM

Its been years but I saw one in a surgar maple that was at least four feet in diameter and was a perfect ball. I tried to buy it but the guy would even consider it.