What kind of burl?

[glycerine]

Ok, to make it even harder, there are no pics! Long story short, I bought some root burl. I think may be malle, but not sure. The guy I got it from said that it was from Australia and it was sometimes called a "brain root". And it did look alot like a brain! Any idea what it is for sure? I started to cut it up, and when applying some danish oil, it had a nice reddish tint, so I'm thinking it might be red malle...

 

[PenPal]

I do believe it must be fake no aussie wood evident.

Peter.

 

[glycerine]

Well, I guess he could have been wrong about where it came from, but it's definitely burl. And definitely looks like it is from the root, either of a bush, or small tree.

 

[Alexanderpens]

Pics might help.

 

[Skye]

Mallee root burl?

Yorrel burl?

 

[Russianwolf]

Sounds an aweful lot like Manzanita to me.

 

[Rojo22]

Could be jarrah as well....never thought about it, but that stuff has holes and stuff in it and looks like brains after a while.....

 

[glycerine]

Could be jarrah as well....never thought about it, but that stuff has holes and stuff in it and looks like brains after a while.....

Jarrah and Amboyna are the same, right? You could be right. It's very light until you put a finish on it. And with some Danish Oil on it, it does look alot like amboyna. I finally got some pics of it...

 

[DCBluesman]

Jarrah and Amboyna are the same, right?

No. Amboyna is a burl most often associate with the narra tree from Southeast Asia. Jarrah is primarily found in Australia and is a member of the eucalyptus family.

 

[philb]

How hard was it to cut? As Jarrah is pretty hard and very dusty! Also normally a lot darker red than that?

 

[Russianwolf]

I think that is a Briar Burl.

Brain... Briar.... I could see the confusion in the name even.

The couple pieces that I have are very light without a finish, and the pipes I've seen made from them look like your finished pieces.

 

[glycerine]

Jarrah and Amboyna are the same, right?

No. Amboyna is a burl most often associate with the narra tree from Southeast Asia. Jarrah is primarily found in Australia and is a member of the eucalyptus family.

Oh yes, narra, not jarrah! They sound the same!

 

[glycerine]

How hard was it to cut? As Jarrah is pretty hard and very dusty! Also normally a lot darker red than that?

The wood itself is very hard, but I had a brand new bandsaw blade, so it wasn't that hard to cut...

 

[David Keller]

I agree with the briar burl. Amboyna has such a distinct smell(sweet and pleasant) that you could tell right away. Also, every amboyna burl that I've seen has had a contrasting sapwood layer near the edges which I don't see on those pieces. Whatever it is, it's nice looking.

 

[glycerine]

I agree with the briar burl. Amboyna has such a distinct smell(sweet and pleasant) that you could tell right away. Also, every amboyna burl that I've seen has had a contrasting sapwood layer near the edges which I don't see on those pieces. Whatever it is, it's nice looking.

Yeah, I've noticed that alot of other burls I've seen have lighter sapwood at the edges. This one seems to be uniform in color all over...

 

[Ankrom Exotics]

Also looks a lot like Afzelia Burl but that burl is typically imported from Asia. Is your supplier positive of its origin?

 

[chrisk]

I come from a region, in Greece, which, a few years ago, was harvesting quite a lot of briar. The wood was sent to a pipe manufacture in the port of Patras (NW of Peloponnese).
Your piece of wood looks like briar: color, texture, specific defects,... I've attached some pics (certainly not of my best ones...) of a piece of briar. Look also at the pen. Your piece of briar is clearly more figured than mine. When I finished the pen I thought: what a mess! But, while this was finished to a satin gloss, I found out that by looking at the pen to a low-angle light, it was plenty of 3-D effects.
My next attempt with briar will certainly go through a CA finish. I'm really curious to see the final product.

@glycerine
Your piece of wood seems really outstanding. I think you'll be surprised after finishing a pen from that wood.

PS: apologies for my English.