Yeah, I think you may be right, you have been done by the blanks seller.
Unfortunately, since "burls" started to appear in the marked as high end woods, some less honest blokes saw the opportunity to make money out of a false material, by selling the most ridiculous types of woods with the tag "BURL" on it, that always means $$$$ so, they take advantage of those with less knowledge of what burls are and look like.
It is true that some blanks seen on sale, particularly when heavily waxed (for a reason) disguise or hide what is inside of it, making difficult to be sure what you are getting, that's when a little pocket knife becomes your best friend, peal a bit of the wax and see what is underneath before you buy.
If you are buying on line, ask the Seller to show you that blank with some wax removed, a honest seller will not hesitate in do so, but again, a honest seller will not disguise a non burl for a burl blank, by over waxing it with some white(ish) wax.
I tend to call a piece of wood that was burl alike characteristics as "Burled wood" that is still far from being a burl but, that's me...!
OK so, is definitely not, any sort of burl but, it has a pleasant and very colourful grain, you done a good job on it so, not everything is a loss...!
Cheers
George
