Malee burl color

[leehljp]

I was in a specialty store (in Japan) today and purchased two pieces of wood. Both said marii suraisu - which I take to be Malee slice. Occasionally in this store, they will put generic names to wood and that is what has me confused about these two pieces.

One piece is more blond/redish in color and the other is more walnut color. Is this normal for Malee burls to be this different in color? They had several of each color in the store, but both colors had the same name written in Japanese.

I had to enhance the pict a tad to give it more of a color as it appears in real. Originally, the "photo" had them close to the same color, but with my wife and a friend looking on, I adjusted the colors in Photoshop until they looked more like the real thing, and quite different in color.

About $18 for the two pieces 7/8 inch thick. Probably get 7 to 8 blanks from them but I would like to know if both are Malee burl.

Your opinions please. . .

 

[gerryr]

You probably got a piece of Brown Mallee burl and a piece of Red Mallee burl.

 

[leehljp]

Originally posted by gerryr
<br />You probably got a piece of Brown Mallee burl and a piece of Red Mallee burl.

Thanks Gerry. I should have looked it up. I was not aware of the different kinds but now I know. That describes what I must have.

On high priced exotic woods, they label them properly, but on the lower priced ones they often use a generic name and I have seen several mis-labeled items in the past (of woods that I was familiar with).

 

[johncrane]

SPOT ON GERRYR

 

[Fangar]

To be honest, I don' think either of those are Red or Brown Mallee Burl. The bark on remaining on them is incorrect for those two. At least in my experience. They are beautiful none the less. Mallee burl tends to have a very spiny and recognizeable bark. Here is a photo of a Red Mallee Burl that I cut up when making the desk set I posted here before. Notice the bark. I also have 4 more large burls arriving tomorrow. I will photograph them and show the difference between red and browm mallee.

Cheers,

Fangar

 

[ken69912001]

I agree with Fangar. I dont think they are mallee.The bark is way different. I recently bought some red mallee.Totally different looking.

 

[Dario]

Every one has a point...but without seeing the wood up close we can't be certain.

While Fangar's example is correct, it is also true that not all burls (mallee included) will be as nice as he pictured. It is a fine example of a premium burl cap...but below and around the cap you may find something similar to Hank's picture above.

The weathered sides on Hank's pics make it even more difficult to ID.

I think you'll have to decide based on whether the wood is worth the price and go from there. Looks like good value from here though.

 

[huntersilver]

Nice looking wood, not sure if it is Red Mallee, but at
approx $2 a blank for 7/8, looks like a bargain[]

 

[Pikebite]

When I was in Australia they had several different types of mallee. As stated above there is red and brown but it is not that simple. Fangers example is red mallee burl as we know it but they also had mallee root which looks like Hanks pics.

As I understand it the mallee burl is a lignotuber, which is an outgrowth from the root. The root itself is not so figured.

I also bought some white mallee which is very pale.

 

[Johnathan]

I'm with Fangar, doesn't look like Mallee (brown or red) to me.

 

[leehljp]

I will take some pictures later today (Japan) of the edges. For some reason, it does seem more like a root burl to me. I just finished cutting a small cherry root burl and the edges of the above picts remind me of a root vs above ground burl. I am not an expert on this but I am not a total novice on wood either. Just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

 

[Buzz]

What you are calling Mallee "Burl" is actually a root ball, which could have come from any one of scores, or maybe hundreds, of different trees. The correct definition of "Mallee" is "A multi-stemmed growth form of many species of Eucalypt trees, where many stems arise from the ground level of an individual plant. These come from the ligno tuber or growth storage cells in the base that regrow after a fire or other disturbance."

What we collect in Australia as "Mallee Roots" (a favourite firewood source) is simply only the root ball after the tree has died off. There is no trunk and hence no bark, leaves or fruit to identify what the species was. Selling timber as either red or brown mallee, is simply a marketing means to cover the lack of species identification.

 

[wdcav1952]

Originally posted by Pikebite
<br />When I was in Australia they had several different types of mallee. As stated above there is red and brown but it is not that simple. Fangers example is red mallee burl as we know it but they also had mallee root which looks like Hanks pics.

As I understand it the mallee burl is a lignotuber, which is an outgrowth from the root. The root itself is not so figured.

I also bought some white mallee which is very pale.

When I read your signature line, I almost sprayed the monitor with my Diet Coke (slight nip of medicinal rum). That is great!!!! []