Another Brain Burl beachwood

Byron Barker

Byron Barker

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Here’s another brain-looking burl from the beach. I am only passingly thinking this is Taiwan Phoebe. I really have no other guesses. The wood is slightly yellow-golden with some streaks of red and spalting. Lots of color and figure going on! On the base, there was a small patch of punky wood I mostly worked out and sealed with CA glue. There is one large crack as shown in the pictures that seems to run into about 1/8 of the burl along the sides. A few small pin holes, but no activity from bugs present. Size is basically 18x20x22cm. I’d like 30$ plus shipping for this one. Sealed with polyurethane in pics.

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I love how Byron gets these gorgeous pieces of wood washing up on shore, but when I'm at the Jersey shore all i see in the ocean is dead fish and McDonald's fry containers 😑
 
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Big Ry said:
I love how Byron gets these gorgeous pieces of wood washing up on shore, but when I'm at the Jersey shore all i see in the ocean is dead fish and McDonald's fry containers 😑
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Just to rub some salt in the wound, I literally just found this bad boy this afternoon beneath the cliff face I posted before. I don’t know how it is coming with me this Saturday…but IT’S COMING WITH ME THIS SATURDAY, DANG IT!!

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Nice one! Byron, Those beach photos you posted were amazing! You’ve got some incredible views! What a great place to hike and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Enjoy!
 
SA-Motors said:
Nice one! Byron, Those beach photos you posted were amazing! You’ve got some incredible views! What a great place to hike and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Enjoy!
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We have the mountains in Austria but I do miss the ocean. I miss the breeze and the long wide view.
 
Just out of curiosity, these logs and burls have obviously been immersed in the ocean for some period of time and sat on the beach, rolled around in the surf. What effect does that have on the stability or workability of the wood? Do you think it makes it better or worse, or no noticeable effect at all? I guess unlike logs that have been buried in bogs or river mud for many many years and as a result absorbed minerals, these pieces Byron is finding haven't been that long exposed.
 
DLJeffs said:
Just out of curiosity, these logs and burls have obviously been immersed in the ocean for some period of time and sat on the beach, rolled around in the surf. What effect does that have on the stability or workability of the wood? Do you think it makes it better or worse, or no noticeable effect at all? I guess unlike logs that have been buried in bogs or river mud for many many years and as a result absorbed minerals, these pieces Byron is finding haven't been that long exposed.
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driftwood from the oregon coast was stable and cuttable, processable without much worry as to warping or cracking. though sand content in voids can be hard on tools
 
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DLJeffs said:
Just out of curiosity, these logs and burls have obviously been immersed in the ocean for some period of time and sat on the beach, rolled around in the surf. What effect does that have on the stability or workability of the wood? Do you think it makes it better or worse, or no noticeable effect at all? I guess unlike logs that have been buried in bogs or river mud for many many years and as a result absorbed minerals, these pieces Byron is finding haven't been that long exposed.
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I guess there are a lot of considerations there that could be unpacked. I have like a dozen scenarios in my mind that would yield different outcomes. What I will say is that it certainly kills any insects that were present in the wood!

One reason I like hunting for driftwood is that the pieces that remain solid and intact are naturally oily and rot-resistant woods or areas of the tree (like burls, roots, heartwood, resin pockets and knots). The process illuminates wood that rots easily fairly quickly in Taiwan due to the climate here. Whatever is left and is solid is promising to me.

It’s worth also noting that most of this wood sat fallen in the high steep mountains here long before getting washed down the mountains into the ocean. So again, it favors woods or parts of a tree that can weather the storm as it were. Those are often desirable. Some of those trees also sat buried in mountain rivers for who knows how long before getting washed down. I’ve seen examples of this.

The process does induce a lot of staining and spalting in some woods.

I find buried and sometimes petrified wood. I just found some the other day. Smells horrible but has interesting staining in the grain.
 
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