Yep... The struggle is real. I'm in my back yard cleaning up. Start looking at the base of the maple tree and think that looks like some usable root burl.
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Ty, I really like the looks of that ironwood.
Here's a piece of walnut crotch that is half sapwood. I like the figured sapwood but it is hard to dry without checking. This has a coat of poly to slow the drying down.
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Ty, I had the twin to that block of two tone amboyna. It was just a bit bigger. I put it on a bowie. It finishes out SO INCREDIBLY nice. It was one of the popular knives I've ever made.
Elk is really neat to work with, but is a porus core and you cannot drive a hidden tang into it very far with out it splitting.Not wood but still knife handle material. Picked this shed up while hiking 15 years ago. I was always going to put it in the flower bed in the front of the house. When ever I thought about it I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Now I know why. There are plenty of usable pieces and leftover to experiment with dye, and finish.
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Another dillema is when your neighbor is a mount maker and gets a slab that has too many voids for his liking. And it weighs about 40lbs after being indoors for a year an 3 mo near a wood stove.
Is a mystery river find burl.
Lots of fiddleback and birds eyes.
Any of you experienced fellers got a clue what it is? Im guessing either maple, walnut, or oak since those are the three locals that end up in the river. Is about 3'L×1.5'W×2"thick.
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I totally spaced sycamores.Walt, I do know what it is for sure. It really doesn't look like maple to me. It's pretty light in color overall for walnut burl. Could be oak burl possibly. Could it be sycamore? That was my first instinct.