Irish Brown Oak Burl Stand

Irish Brown Oak Burl Story

Irish Oak Burl and Sam Talarico

This incredible Oak Burl log was on the grounds of the Shane Castle in Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had to be 500 to 700 years old. It was so big, we had to cut it halve to get it in a container to ship it here. I studied this log for weeks before I made the first cut. This piece was one of only two pieces I could get full natural edged slabs from. The rest had to be cut and book matched to get the natural edge all around. This piece warped badly in drying and I had to cut it into three pieces to surface it to save it. I surfaced the pieces, then glued it all back together. Once that was done, I just kept working on it. I worked on it on and off for over a year. I designed the stand for it so it could be displayed as an incredible piece of natural art for all to see, from the front and the back as well.

You are looking at the inside of a burl.

A burl is a growth on a tree.
As an example, see the photo on the right.

It’s like a blob of ice cream on a cone.

A burl can be small, say a foot across, but it can grow to be four feet across.  We are not sure what causes a burl to form in the first place.  It’s not like a cancerous growth because it doesn’t harm the tree.

The wood inside the burl is complex in its structure so we don’t use it for furniture except, possibly, for a tabletop, but it can be sliced and polished like this piece to show the exquisite beauty of growth in nature.

This burl grew on an oak tree in Northern Ireland and it was brought to the USA by Sam Talarico who sliced and polished it for your enjoyment.

–– Story credit to Ian Kirby