Guys,

A year or so ago, I found and dug up a bigleaf maple burl. Not
knowing just what to do with it, and being in a rush, I half-buried it
in some damp sawdust (to keep it from drying and splitting), covered
it in plastic, and left it outside. And promptly forgot about it. I
just dug it up, and it doesn't look too much worse for the wear,
excpet for an insect infestation under the bark.

My questions a

1) What can I do with this? It occurred to me to make a bowl (or
two), but this would effectively turn most of the wood into sawdust.
I also thought some bandsawn boxes would be nice. Any other
suggestions?

2) How do I prepare this wood? Saw it into chunks, coat in paraffin,
and let dry a few years?

3) Assuming I want to keep a natural 'edge' on this, how is this
surface typically cleaned/finished? Does one use sandblasting, or ???

Some pics of the burl:

http://www.msnusers.com/burl/shoebox...hoto&PhotoID=6
http://www.msnusers.com/burl/shoebox...hoto&PhotoID=8

Thanks,

Kelly