Hey Guys & Gals

I would like some advice on white oak burls. I have got my hands on a
burl that is approximatlely 5 feet in diameter and over 12 feet in
circumference.
It bottomed out my truck springs before the loader had fully released
it. We estimate at least a ton. The burl seems to be quite solid. I
would like to sell it in one peice any ideas how much something like
this would go for. Or would it be better to cut it up and sell it.
This is new territory for me so all the help you can give me would be
greatly appreciated. I should have some jpegs next week if any one is
interested in seeing it

Thanks

Peter

Peter,
I don't know where you are, but I am in western Oregon.I got my hands
on some Oregon White Oak burl about 2 years ago. The tree was in the
200 year old range, and had been cut down by some guys who promised the
owner big bucks for all of the burl on the tree. After cutting the tree
down. they decided that the burl wasn't good for their uses. I got some
chunks for turning. The burl was not solid, having a LOT of voids in
it. You could not slab it up for lumber, but it made for some
interesting 'art' pieces. It had so many voids, that I couldn't take
cores from it, and the whole time turning it (especially the inside)
you keep praying that it doesn't blow up. When you get done, you feel
like you have worked a miracle. The customers who look at it wonder how
you managed to turn it without it self destructing. I showed it to an
arborist friend of mine, and he said that it was fairly typical of our
white oak burl. It also had a lot of the boring beetle larve in it (I
super glued a couple of them in place), I hope your's is more solid.
The only way to find out is to lop some chunks off, and turn them. This
burl was on the tree type, and not on the trunk/root part of the tree.
robo hippy

You might search ebay for completed auctions of the same type of
material, to get an idea of value. Or just google (froogle) the web for
oak burl or white oak burl.