price of burl on the tree?

[tap.emtp]

a friend asked me if i was interested in buying some oak burl from a tree he is cutting from his yard. its about 3 ' in diamiter. i have no idea what to offer. is there a general price for raw burl? any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks ted

[woodwzrd]

Offer to trade him a call made from the burl after it dries. It is a win win deal.

[tap.emtp]

sounds good to me woodwzrd but someone told him how expensive burl was and hes seeing $ signs.

[woodwzrd]

The problem with burl is you have no idea what your getting till you cut it open. I have cut burls that have ended up being hollow and I have cut burls that only had burl grain on the outside 4-5 inches and the entire center portion of the burl was straight grain material. It is a crap shoot any time you get a burl. Granted most of the time it is all good and if you were to buy that amount of burl you would go broke.

I would just let the dollar signs fade away and explain that the burl is only really worth good money in the processed and dried form. There is a ton of time cutting and drying involved with burls.

[flydowntn]

If he is a friend why is he trying to sell it to you. Help him cut it down for a trade.
Shane

[handcannon]

If he's a friend, you've bound to have something to blackmail him over. Sounds like a good trade for silence. Just kidding. I'm with woodwizrd. I'd have to see the product cut into a little at least before a price could be set.

[lightsoutcalls]

You are getting some good input here.  Another issue with burl is that it is bad about cracking as it dries.  There are ways to slow the drying process to minimize the cracking (drying it in the dark in a bucket of sand or wrapped in newspaper), but there is no guarantee even then.  If the tree currently has leaves on it, the moisture content is going to be higher and the chances for cracking increased.   
I would make your friend aware of all of these factors before agreeing on any price. 

It's kind of like baseball cards.  The only value they have is what the next guy is willing to pay.  Let him see how much money he makes off of it sitting in the back yard for awhile and maybe the price will go down.

[VanHelden Game Calls]

Good advice given.

A large portion of the $ is processing.  Unless its something truly spectacular I would not pay above firewood value for green burl.  For me its to much of a crap shoot.  Heck around here you go through the logged areas and they leave them to rot.

[tap.emtp]

thanks guys, great advice. i think i'll just offer to make him something out of it. if not just pass. i just cut a decent red oak  burl off my lease this year so i have a little. thanks again ted