New maple burl - Christmas in October!

[beuford23]

Photos to come.....I'm at work as I type

A friend of mine thru work, who happens to be a local logger just swung by with a, ahem, little piece of maple burl for me. It measures 29"x25"x5.5" and is EXTREMELEY figured! Apparently, he had to cut it down in size a bit as it was too heavy to carry out. He'll be coming by again tomorrow with another piece of the same size

I figure I can get about 8 or 9 decent tops out if it.

Christmas arrived early today!

[Matteo.Fadi]

Photos Photos Photos !!!!!!!

[mterry]

Is this piece fresh cut, or is it Dried? (Kiln/Air)

[beuford23]

Sorry guys, I had to go to a meeting this morning in Vancouver and was gone all day (from 6am until 8:45pm ET)
My camera's batteries are crapped out so I'll try and get some photos snapped tomorrow. Damm thing weighs about 170 pounds. The funny thing is, when I lifted it the first time (outside my work) the worst happened: a great big tearing noise! The end result? I had torn the ass in my jeans!!!!!!!!
The burl was taken from the base of a fat leaf maple here in my hometown. I have yet to see the entire burl, but as my buddy has explained to me it is about 6 feet across and a couple feet tall. He was able to square it up reasonably with his chainsaw - so yes Mterry, it is still green. I have it wrapped up tight under some industrial grade saran wrap (the shipping kind - I wrapped it about 5 times) to keep all the moisture in right now. I'm torn whether I should see if I can find someone that can kiln dry it or if I should cut it down in size and air dry it.

Again, I'll get pics up asap but if anyone has any tips or advice on treating/curing this hog please feel free to chime in

Beuford

[beuford23]

And here's the pics. For those who have read, the guitar build in the last pic is of my LP build/thread[IMG]

[The Thruth]

oh man this is really big chunk of burl maple

[Standard_59]

Originally Posted by beuford23

Photos to come.....I'm at work as I type

A friend of mine

Wow........he sure is!

[ex-nihilo]

Very cool.

[DGNRepair]

That is great. I need to find a friend in the logging business. 1 piece tops of burl maple.

[beuford23]

I know I am really lucky right now. Supposedly he's going to be dropping another one off today too! I know it's going to take quite a while to ge this cured/air dried, but as you can see from the pics it'll be well worth the wait

[beuford23]

A bit of bummer......

My friend got a hold of me again today. The tree that he had cut down he had purchased off the property owners for $40 a square meter. He sold it to someone on the island here for $150 a square meter. Initially, the sale of the wood was for the trunk and up. Nothing had been mentioned about the burl base. Well, they got together yesterday and when the 'client' saw the figuring in the burl he offered to buy that as well. Mike said that after the backhoe lifted it out (burl and root) that it took up one half of a dump truck!!!!
Sooooo, that being said, all I get is the one slab. No biggie. I'm happier than a pig in shit with it. Just about to head out and buy some log seal from Lee Valley. This weekend i'll cut it into 3 hogs (9 inches each) and then split each hog into "2.5 inch - I have to take into account any shrinkage

[mterry]

If he says anything about finding some nice Quilted Maple, let me in on it.

I'm just down the coast a bit, in Mukilteo, WA

[beuford23]

Mterry, I'll definitely keep my feelers out for you. He picks up falling jobs all the time and, as he explained to me, he comes across burls and such all the time. I do have to say that up here in the Cowichan valley we have some of the oldest "fat leaf" maples on Vancouver Island. There's a park not far from here where they have them; one in particular has a base burl about the size of 2 windstars! So, all is needed is time and patience until another find turns up and when it does, I'll let you know and we can take it from there.
In the meantime, I just got back from Lee Valley. I couldn't help but notice that a package of 3 sheets of maple burl veneer was $79 (CDN). I guess I got a pretty good deal if this wood dries nicely (which I'm sure it will)

[mterry]

Thanks for the consideration.

[Atomic]

wow!!!!

[beuford23]

Just cut the slab into 3's today...Arm and back are bagged now. This weekend I'll plane it and re-saw it then seal it again and stick it away into storage. I will, however, try to take some pics along the way.

Beuf

[shotgunlew]

Wanna sell enough to make a guitar top?

[Rico]

Damn that's nice.

[beuford23]

Hey shotgun, I'll keep you up to date on the wood as it dries. I had cut it into 3 slabs and sealed it until yesterday.....got a phone call from my friend asking if I still needed to slice it up (message on my machine). I knew something was up as his bandsaw was no bigger than mine. As it turns out, last week he went and got himself a new beast of a bandsaw and he wanted to try it out! So, off I go into his shop and find myself staring the one of the bigest bandsaws I've seen in a home shop. Damm thing is I can't remember the brand but I can resaw up to 12.5 inches! So, my 3 slabs quickly became 6 and are now re-sealed again and drying nicely in the basement. Come spring I'll move them outside and let mother nature do the rest.

On another note, regarding shop safety. I was just informed yesterday that my friend who gave me the slab had an accident. Using a wood chipper he had a lapse in judgement and failed to put on his safety goggles. A sliver of wood came flying out at him and struck him in the left eye. He is now blind out of that eye and the physicians are still unsure whether he will be able to keep the eye or whether he will lose it all together.

Please remember, put your god damm goggles on!

Beuf