# Locust Burl



## gvwp (Jan 29, 2013)

Got in a bit of mid winter logging today and pulled out this beauty. Honey Locust burl. Will be milling in the next few days. Also got a small Osage Orange burl which I have never seen. Its pretty small but will be interesting. Cut Osage Orange, Walnut, Honey Locust and a bit of Ohio Buckeye today. Have never seen Buckeye sawn so that will be a newbie. One of the bigger Buckeye trees had a nice burl on it but it was at the bottom of a revine and with all the warm weather locally its made the valleys very muddy and a deathtrap for equipment so I didn't get that tree out today. 

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## Kevin (Jan 29, 2013)

I have been coveting an osage for years in the nearby town that is covered in what most of you call burl. That honeylocust knob you have there is impressive for sure. Hoping for you that it has eyes.


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## gvwp (Jan 29, 2013)

The only other Locust burl I cut didn't really have eyes. More like squiggly lines. It was beautiful just the same but not sure what to expect with this one. Go cut that Osage burl Kevin!  Its got to be some cool wood.


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## Kevin (Jan 29, 2013)

gvwp said:


> The only other Locust burl I cut didn't really have eyes. More like squiggly lines. It was beautiful just the same but not sure what to expect with this one. Go cut that Osage burl Kevin!  Its got to be some cool wood.



It's a grand old beast for sure I bet at least 250 years old, but it's in someone's back yard and she won't let me have it. I don't blame her I almost wouldn't cut it down - it's a grand majestic thing of beauty which towers over her house. Not a scraggly sprawling osage like most of them but a big fat tall multi trunk that goes straight up. She's remarried now and he likes the dern thing as much as her so there's no hope of me getting it.


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## Steelart99 (Jan 29, 2013)

You guys have absolutely no idea how jealous I am of the wood that you have all around you. As far as I can see, and as far as I can travel in several hours ... Ponderosa Pine, some Aspen and sage brush ...


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## HomeBody (Jan 30, 2013)

Steelart99 said:


> You guys have absolutely no idea how jealous I am of the wood that you have all around you.



And you have absolutely no idea how jealous I am of all these burls you find. I live in the country, hunt, and run dogs in the woods all the time. I've looked and looked and have never found one. I live near the junction of the W.Okaw and Kaskaskia Rivers so we have plenty of timber. I find the trees with knobs on them that I thought were burls but now know they are just cankers. What does it take to find a burl? Old timber? Are they mostly buried?  My location has what I need but not what I desire. Gary


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## jimmyjames (Jan 30, 2013)

Kevin said:


> gvwp said:
> 
> 
> > The only other Locust burl I cut didn't really have eyes. More like squiggly lines. It was beautiful just the same but not sure what to expect with this one. Go cut that Osage burl Kevin!  Its got to be some cool wood.
> ...



This reminds me of a giant walnut yard tree that was/still is in my friends yard in the tiny town i grew up in, it has a massive burl on it about the size of a smart car, then i never thought twice about it until now that i got into woodworking.... another big burl i have seen is on a tree that sits near a gas station that i frequent but is in timber on the army reserves base property... someday i will find one i can actually cut down....


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## healeydays (Jan 30, 2013)

Folks,

Do you catch yourself driving down the road looking at the trees searching out Burls? I do, and my wife says she's even catching herself doing it.


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## Kevin (Jan 30, 2013)

My wife is more proactive than me with mentally undressing a tree. Not just on the road but we'll be watching a movie and she'll comment on a tree. One time we were watching a movie there was a huge tree in the near background but we didn't know what it was - it was not burled but was super gnarly and the grain went all over the place like in a Peter Max artwork and she actually said "I wonder where this was filmed?" and she wasn't kidding. :lolol:


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## Dane Fuller (Jan 30, 2013)

Kevin said:


> It's a grand old beast for sure I bet at least 250 years old, but it's in someone's back yard and she won't let me have it. I don't blame her I almost wouldn't cut it down - it's a grand majestic thing of beauty which towers over her house. Not a scraggly sprawling osage like most of them but a big fat tall multi trunk that goes straight up. *She's remarried now and he likes the dern thing as much as her so there's no hope of me getting it.*



:privateeye: Psst for a small fee...... :privateeye:

:csnut:


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## gvwp (Jan 30, 2013)

HomeBody said:


> Steelart99 said:
> 
> 
> > You guys have absolutely no idea how jealous I am of the wood that you have all around you.
> ...



Its just pot luck and you can walk through a woods and not see one. I had selected trees for cutting in this woods and never saw the burl high in a tree. Even more curious was my 11 year old son was with me and he has owl eyes when it comes to burls and he even missed it. It was not hidden. Quite out in the open. Neither of us saw it. In this same 5 acres there was this nice Honey Locust burl, a small Osage Orange burl, and a nice burl on a Buckeye tree. This ground is very close to the Wabash River which seems to produce a lot of Osage and burly wood for some reason.


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## gvwp (Jan 30, 2013)

Kevin said:


> My wife is more proactive than me with mentally undressing a tree. Not just on the road but we'll be watching a movie and she'll comment on a tree. One time we were watching a movie there was a huge tree in the near background but we didn't know what it was - it was not burled but was super gnarly and the grain went all over the place like in a Peter Max artwork and she actually said "I wonder where this was filmed?" and she wasn't kidding. :lolol:



Yes I do this as well all the time. I make comments during movies about the large timber or gnarly trees and people just shake their heads at me.  A really super nice tree along a country road can be almost as good as a tall hot blue eyed blonde walking down the sidewalk in the city.


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## AXEMAN58 (Feb 12, 2013)

gvwp said:


> Got in a bit of mid winter logging today and pulled out this beauty. Honey Locust burl. Will be milling in the next few days. Also got a small Osage Orange burl which I have never seen. Its pretty small but will be interesting. Cut Osage Orange, Walnut, Honey Locust and a bit of Ohio Buckeye today. Have never seen Buckeye sawn so that will be a newbie. One of the bigger Buckeye trees had a nice burl on it but it was at the bottom of a revine and with all the warm weather locally its made the valleys very muddy and a deathtrap for equipment so I didn't get that tree out today.



I bought a couple of Osage Orange Burl pen blanks from a guy some years ago, and to date it is one of the most amazing woods I've had the pleasure to turn into a finished pen. The eyes in those 2 blanks were truly stunning.
I've been searching for more of it for about a year, with no luck. (HINT...HINT) 
If and when you are ready to start sending some of that Osage Burl out, I'm interested...:hookup::thanx:


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## gvwp (Feb 12, 2013)

AXEMAN58 said:


> gvwp said:
> 
> 
> > Got in a bit of mid winter logging today and pulled out this beauty. Honey Locust burl. Will be milling in the next few days. Also got a small Osage Orange burl which I have never seen. Its pretty small but will be interesting. Cut Osage Orange, Walnut, Honey Locust and a bit of Ohio Buckeye today. Have never seen Buckeye sawn so that will be a newbie. One of the bigger Buckeye trees had a nice burl on it but it was at the bottom of a revine and with all the warm weather locally its made the valleys very muddy and a deathtrap for equipment so I didn't get that tree out today.
> ...



The sawmill has been down for a week. Burnt out the forward and reverse circuit board. Finally got it back up today but boy are we behind on orders. :dash2::dash2: I'm wanting to get to the burls but I've got to get caught up on the orders first. Hopefully within a week or two. I'll be sure to post up a few things in the for sale section and on the website. The Osage burl was not really that impressive as far as size but might get some nice pen blanks from it.


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