Why are Damascus Box Elder Burl 21s $50 more than other woods?

OhioApexing

OhioApexing

Sharpener
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Preface: I'm trying to educate myself about CRKs in advance of purchasing a wood inlayed Damascus 21, so I'll probably be making a bunch of annoying posts in the coming days. Bear with me!

This question more-or-less simply satisfies my curiosity. Are they more expensive to produce (i.e., is Box Elder Burl harder to come by/inherently more expensive)?

Or is it simply a matter of supply and demand in the retail market? Of the wood inlays that CRK currently produces, BEB seems to be the hardest to come by. Is that because they're more sought after and quickly purchased? Or does CRK make less of them?

Thanks!

EDIT: I'm trying to find a Box Elder Burl with some "rosy" hues, or a Spalted Beech with some deep, rich red colors. They seem to be rare!!
 
Box Elder Burl is considered a “premium” wood by CRK, likely due to the expense of procuring and machining suitable inlays from it. It might be extra chippy so the yield is low, it could have variable figure so they need to purchase more than another wood to make a certain number of inlays, it could just be the material is more expensive. I dunno. Just speculation.

Sure does look nice though

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Finding one with those rosy hues is definitely rare. Also they often get made in runs so a dealer will get a bunch at one time, put them up and depending on how long its been since the last run the type you want may have just been purchased already.
 
I would guess that the supplier knows what CRK is looking for and has to examine the wood before sending it to CRK. It may be that CRK is picky with the boxelder. I've seen other knives with boxelder, and IMO, CRK has the best looking non stained boxelder so far.
Gotta have a picture.

nJijwsM.jpg
 
I had a good month or so looking for the perfect look of the beb,imho its the classiest looking CRK next too an annual.
 
Josh K said:
Box Elder Burl is considered a “premium” wood by CRK, likely due to the expense of procuring and machining suitable inlays from it. It might be extra chippy so the yield is low, it could have variable figure so they need to purchase more than another wood to make a certain number of inlays, it could just be the material is more expensive. I dunno. Just speculation.

Sure does look nice though

View attachment 944790
View attachment 944801
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That particular one has seen time in blue jeans evidenced by the edge stains. Therefore, when you get your box elder Burl 21 take precautions when carrying. Some stains may not be removable.
 
Wavicle said:
That particular one has seen time in blue jeans evidenced by the edge stains. Therefore, when you get your box elder Burl 21 take precautions when carrying. Some stains may not be removable.
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That’s good to know Wavicle Wavicle . I didn’t know it would do that. I’m thinking it would do the same to mammoth. I carry mine in the CRK sheath but sometimes just carry it in the jeans. Might think more about that going forward.
 
Wavicle said:
That particular one has seen time in blue jeans evidenced by the edge stains. Therefore, when you get your box elder Burl 21 take precautions when carrying. Some stains may not be removable.
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Yes it has, though not my jeans. :D This is a user, so the wear is acceptable to me. But I would suggest any natural handled knife be carried in a slip.

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blanco112 said:
Finding one with those rosy hues is definitely rare. Also they often get made in runs so a dealer will get a bunch at one time, put them up and depending on how long its been since the last run the type you want may have just been purchased already.
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So are you saying it’s possible for them to be purchased before they even hit the online store? Like people preorder them?

Ajack60 said:
I would guess that the supplier knows what CRK is looking for and has to examine the wood before sending it to CRK. It may be that CRK is picky with the boxelder. I've seen other knives with boxelder, and IMO, CRK has the best looking non stained boxelder so far.
Gotta have a picture.

nJijwsM.jpg
Click to expand...

Dear mother of God that is a beautiful knife.
 
Basedlarrydavid said:
So are you saying it’s possible for them to be purchased before they even hit the online store? Like people preorder them?



Dear mother of God that is a beautiful knife.
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Yes, I ordered a Thuya wood inlay and compared to ones I've seen, the wood grain turned out nice. I am very pleased with it.
Thanks for the complement on the Box Elder ( spelled correctly this time :oops:), I happened to have the chance to snag it and couldn't pass it up. She's a slut, I know of two other people that had her. But, she's found a home down here in the south.
Here's the other side even though it's been shown before, I'm proud of her.

0MDUuhT.jpg
 
Basedlarrydavid said:
So are you saying it’s possible for them to be purchased before they even hit the online store? Like people preorder them?
Click to expand...

No I just meant depending on when the last time the dealer you are shopping at got some, they might have been purchased already (off the site). Everyone likes the darker/redder BE and they get picked off first.
 
Box elder is basically a weedy tree that is very common in North America; it is by no means rare nor are the burls uncommon. They are fast growing, the limbs are brittle, sucker, and often don't have an attractive form (the leaves don't even turn a nice color in autumn). The wood is easy to work with but not commonly used besides in some specialty niches because it is very susceptible to decay and rather weak. It sometimes has a nice pinkish-red color though and the burls of course look great.

I am assuming that CRK charges a premium because the scales are very attractive and in demand. To me, $50 more for a nice wood from a VERY common and generally not well-liked tree seems a bit unscrupulous, even if they do spend a lot of time hand selecting and working with individual scales. The scales/inlays are quite small too. I guess it boils down to demand and what they can get away with charging.
 
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Darkera said:
To me, $50 more for a nice wood from a VERY common and generally not well-liked tree seems a bit unscrupulous, even if they do spend a lot of time hand selecting and working with individual scales.
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o_O

Darkera said:
The scales/inlays are quite small too.
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So you're saying that smaller things should cost less?

Box elder burl is probably not as common as box elder tree. And when you consider that they don't dye it they probably are very picky about what they set into an inlay.
 
Josh K said:
So you're saying that smaller things should cost less?

Box elder burl is probably not as common as box elder tree. And when you consider that they don't dye it they probably are very picky about what they set into an inlay.
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It goes without saying that a sliver of black cherry wood is going to be cheaper than 10 board feet of black cherry wood. Looking purely at the cost of materials, there is no way these small box elder burl inlays cost anywhere close to $50, which I think is what Basedlarrydavid was asking about.

Of course burls are not as common as the trees themselves, but the fact is this is a very, very common tree in N. America and therefore the likelihood of coming across nice burly specimens is higher than in a less common tree such as butternut. I saw prices around $5/sq ft for box elder burl wood, that's a lot of inlays! I wonder how CRK is purchasing the burl wood, maybe already as stabilized blanks pre-selected for showy grains/textures? I doubt they are sawing an entire burl looking for that perfect piece.

As I was writing the word, "unscrupulous" I thought it was too strong of a word, but charging a $50 premium for this kind of wood is not based on the particular tree species, rarity, or any objective measure, at least from what I can gather. Don't get me wrong, these inlays are stunning, but $50 for box elder burl wood is a little much. I can see for rare and exotic lumber or some historical material, but not box elder! It's odd that it costs more than bog oak and Macassar ebony.
 
I purposely orded a real light box elder inlay as I already have a spalted beech, so I wanted something different. Can anyone suggest something I can maybe rub on this very light wood to protect it from picking up dye from my pants pocket edge or jeans like in the pic in post #9?’
 
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