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BURLS


redwood burl veneer, bookmatched, and a vase made from a redwood burl. Note on the vase how pitch pockets have left small natural inclusions in the wood. Redwood burls can reach sizes that are enormous by burl standards and the large ones are usually made into veneer because they bring in a ton of money that way.



a thuya burl and a "box" (about 3" across) made from thuya burl. The burl can be enlarged.



an olive ash burl and a carpathian elm burl. Note the holes in the elm burl. They are particularly common in that burl but also fairly common in burls in general. Both may be enlarged. The carpathian elm burl is widely used in the dashboards of high end luxury cars because when finished it has a very rich look.



an amboyna burl and a collibah burl. The outer surface of the cullibah burl (top picture --- the bottom pic is the inside) is typical of the wart-like appearance of burls from the outside.



two karri burls --- both have been oiled. I've never seen one of these, but they certainly look gorgeous.



red oak burl veneer and a white oak burl. I have included these because anyone familiar with wood is likely to know what oak grain looks like and can immediately see that these burls look nothing like that. Burls are always swirly and have no uniformity in grain pattern --- that's what makes them so beautiful, but it also means that they have low tensile strength. That doesn't really matter, since they are used for looks, not strength.



a paela burl. This burl (about 6" across) is a completely different color from the wood of the tree on which it grows, which is a golden tan. These burls, which generally do not get bigger than about 10" across and are usually smaller, are highly prized for the creation of wooden jewlery such as earrings. The irregularity of the outside of this burl is typical of burls.