Thread: Garage Sale Burl? :D

Sooo.. I was at a garage sale today, and I nearly couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this piece of wood sitting on the table.



It was about 8.5" long, 7.5" wide and 3" thick.

The lady was quite old (70 maybe) and told me that her and her deceased husband found this floating in a lake 40 years ago, and they took it home and it had been sitting on a table for nearly 40 years. LOL.

Pretty crazy. This this is pretty freekin ugly on the outside. I don't think the lady even knew that inside of it was much prettier..

Sooo..the bad news is I think this is Pine. If it is pine, do you guys think I could still use it for scales? what would your recommendation(s) be in order to use it? Stabilize it somehow? with what? would just using an epoxy finish be enough?

Anyway, I found out that a 1/4" blade 9" bandsaw is NOT THE Correct tool to rip down burl I think I ruined at least 2 planks due to a creeping bandsaw blade. That said.. I think I could have gotten 10 sheets, and instead I'll be getting about 7-8 out of it. each sheet should be able to produce a set of scales, so, not bad for $3.

Here is what it looks like inside:

Great story and beautiful wood.
That is going to make some fantastic scales.
Rick

All i can say is holey crap that is beautiful wood i like it.

Very nice!
Now, get a bigger blade before you set foot in another garage sale!

Originally Posted by ronnie brown

All i can say is holey crap that is beautiful wood i like it.

Seconded, what a wonderful find.

Most burls are butt ugly on the outside, but a treasure on the inside. You need to establish a square side before you start resawing it. Run it across a jointer to flatten out the flattest spot on the wood then use that new flat spot as your fence guide and square off another side in the jointer. Then you have two square sides to rid along you bandsaw fence and table to cut square slabs. I use a 14 inch bandsaw with a half inch blade to resaw, then a belt sander to take out the mill marks or run the slabs through the surfacing drum sander. Then let the magic begin. You got yourself a real winner. That hunk of wood would be more like $80-90 from a dealer. awsome find.

Beautiful stuff! Looks like the wood has taken on waves from the lake!

call K&G and find out the largest size they can stablize for you and then cut it to fit
then follow up with all the rest of the cutting


that looks like some really nice wood there and a steel at that price

That is indeed a beautiful specimen.

I wonder what Dan 'Floppyshoes' will have to say.

$3.00... and no sales tax.. now that's a deal.

Wow, that's pretty awesome- I'd suggest stabilizing it, pine or not. Get it done professionally or by someone who knows what they're doing (not just minwax wood hardener). WSSI is pretty much the best regarded company. Just google it. It isn't cheap though.