Look what I found in the blackberry bushes. More Photos

Burl Source

Burl Source

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Dec 7, 2008
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I had about a half an hour to kill before time to close up so I was wondering around the grounds. I saw a piece of wood in the blackberry bushes that had turned all gray and had curled up like a potato chip. Being curious I climbed into the sticker bushes and pulled this out. This is a piece I cut off to see what was inside.

What do you think?
Nice stuff .....huh?

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Lynn, the guy who fixes the equipment here when we break it, just shook his head when he saw me carrying the gray piece. He asked, "What are you doing? Cutting firewood?"

I answered "I think I found treasure."
So he followed me to see what it would look like when I cut it.



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Looks better now.

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A lot of the wood will be kindling but I should get some good stuff as well when I cut this up tomorrow.
 
I'm fond of American Sycamore when cut proper. I did a custom run of high quality acrylic infused (stabilized) Sycamore burl for Chris Reeves knives a couple years ago. At $5.00 a board foot for Sycamore burl cluster boards and $3.00 a board foot for quarter sawn ray fleck it's a good investment. Scratches easy..not very wear resistant wood. Makes good acoustic guitars.
 
Larry D. Davis said:
I'm fond of American Sycamore when cut proper. I did a custom run of high quality acrylic infused (stabilized) Sycamore burl for Chris Reeves knives a couple years ago. At $5.00 a board foot for Sycamore burl cluster boards and $3.00 a board foot for quarter sawn ray fleck it's a good investment. Scratches easy..not very wear resistant wood. Makes good acoustic guitars.
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I would like to buy the burl boards for $5 a board foot. I get lots of requests for this from the guitar builders. Please let me know because I would like to get a lot more of this if I can. I would also like to be able to get the quarter sawn as well. I will look forward to hearing from you because I have the ok from my boss to get a bunch now.

You had also mentioned in a previous post about very good koa at a low price.
Larry D. Davis said:
Most wood is very abundant. One just needs multiple sources to understand the market movements in availability. Any one can charge a high price and probably get it..for awhile until folks start doing their own research. Woods have always been a supply and demand thing, with niche markets for value added products. For the most part the higher the risk a consumer accepts, the lower the price. Higher prices dictate lower risk factors to a consumer.

Having said that I'm cutting 50 Koa knife blocks AT $3.50 EACH as part of of a $5,000 order to a knife supply catalog company. It's JUST wood...and....VERY GOOD WOOD at that.
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I would like to purchase some of the Koa you have. I am able to place a good sized order.

Thanks, This is going to make things a lot easier for me and I will be able to pass on the great prices to the other forum members.
 
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I am really excited about the woods Larry was talking about at such bargain prices. I kind of feel like a dummy for not buying from him before this.

I will let you guys know when I hear from him and what I will be getting. Plus, this way I will be able to offer even better prices to you guys than I ever have before.
 
I just got my bandsaw put back together and started cutting this piece up.
Here is a photo showing the difference in colors vs normal sycamore. I like them both.
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Now to get back to cutting blocks.
 
Both pieces are "normal". Sycamore, like most all hardwoods has a dark heart wood and a lighter sapwood. The heart wood can be in a variety of shades as can the sap wood as well as mixed in a single board. We have three species of wood traded as Sycamore or lacewood in North America. American Sycamore indigenous to the east, but shade and street trees thru out the country; California Sycamore from... and London Plane, indigenous to Europe and the UK with shade and street trees in this country. Plane heart wood is most often darker in general. Most of the cluster burl sycamore slabs in my warehouse are 6/4 and 8/4 London Plane species from which I cut the best pieces and dye them....takes dye beautiful and is the best way to bring out the ray fleck figure. Unfortunately, the burl pips or knots in sycamore tend to open up if dried to fast. The quarter sawn instrument wood is American Sycamore. Sycamore timber is very unstable unless quarter sawn and dried properly.

Burl Source, you said you pulled that chunk out of the brush...must need some drying yet? What's the moisture content?
 
This photo shows the outer 1/2" of the slab. Colors are darker all the way out to the edge. I thought it might be spalting but the wood has not softened. There was some blackline in some of the unusable cutoffs. I don't know for sure about the spalting causing the colors, just a wild guess. It could be a different species. I just thought it looked cool. Most of the eyes are still closed but there are probably about 1 in 10 that are open to about a pencil point size. I think of this more as birdseye than burl because instead of burl growths there are just small pins scattered on the exterior.

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Cutting and sanding it feels good and dry, but I am sure it has picked up some moisture from being outdoors. I will be checking it with a moisture meter tomorrow.
 
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This shows a little of the blackline I was talking about. That is why I was guessing some of the color was from a fungus or spalting.
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Other areas the flecks and eyes were darker with a lighter background.
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Well, I got a couple dozen blocks out of this piece.
If anyone is interested I can sand and post some of these for sale in the supply forum tomorrow. Probably around $15 each. Gotta figure my hours first.
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Burl Source said:
Larry,
PM sent. I would like to purchase some sycamore. It is beautiful stuff.
Thanks, Mark
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I'm at my house in Georgia and won't be back in the Oregon shop/warehouse until early September. I'll be there about a month or so running my band saw mill cutting up about 10,000 # of whole amboyna burl, thuya burl and spalted curly/quilted maple logs. Get in touch with me mid September if you still have needs.

I'll be back in Oregon next March to meet a long time friend/client who's flying in from Europe to select and help prepare a container of tone wood he's ordered to expand his luthier supply business before I close the warehouse and fully retire from custom tonewood business. He's expressed interest in the sycamore as well so ethically he has first choice. I'll get a firm go or no go on it from him in September when I inventory and tally it.
 
Hello, does this wood look similar to your's Mark? In some of the pics it does but then in others it doesnt. Does it feel light to you? How long has it been since the rainy season ended?? Thanks-Mark--Hey Mark does it have any pinkish color in it. Mine has a few areas.
 

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I love quilted sycamore, the only problem I ever have with it though is actually illustrated in an above picture. It's prone to spalting, but not very well, usually just a few black lines here and there through it, and hard to know what's inside a block untill you start cutting into it.
 
Justin.Mercier said:
I love quilted sycamore, the only problem I ever have with it though is actually illustrated in an above picture. It's prone to spalting, but not very well, usually just a few black lines here and there through it, and hard to know what's inside a block untill you start cutting into it.
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You need more experience :) Spalted sycamore can be some of the most spectacular of the spalting sap woods. Sycamore wood fiber holds integrity way better than spalting maple (all else being equal) and I've cut a lot for solid body guitar tops. check this out..

http://www.tonycortese.net/SPALTED SYCAMORE BOWL.jpg
 
marekz said:
Hello, does this wood look similar to your's Mark? In some of the pics it does but then in others it doesnt. Does it feel light to you? How long has it been since the rainy season ended?? Thanks-Mark--Hey Mark does it have any pinkish color in it. Mine has a few areas.
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Rainy season ended a few months ago. Now our area turns into a 100+ degree desert.

I don't think your wood is sycamore, but not sure. The wood is a bit lighter in weight than maple. I would not use an oil finish as it tends to kill the contrast in this wood. This is a wood that would benefit from stabilizing.
 
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