Anybody interested in some red cedar slabs?

[Eric Group]

Got a bunch of these, just a few are ready to sell now- dried on the logs for a couple months, sanded, lacquered- a ton of these trees went down around my parent's place in Beaufort SC a couple months ago during the hurricane- got to visit them over Thanksgiving and run the saw some! I was planning to put a couple for sale on $.99 bonsai on Facebook when the sale opens tomorrow, figured I'd offer them here first- obviously anything I post on FB will only be available there, but if you have some interest let me know and we can probably work something out- plan on pricing them ranging from about $30-65 or so depending on size/ shape/ interest.. IOW, these rather large "burlwood" pieces would be the most expensive:
$65


Little smaller, more of an oval knot than a burl- probably do like $45 on this one?


Smaller: thinner one- $30 ish...

Shoot me a PM with any questions- "Red Cedar" round these parts is what we call Juniperous Virginia for the (obviously) RED heart wood- a real hard, LONG lasting wood... Beautiful!! I added another extra heavy layer of lacquer to these guys after the pics... oughta be dry by now. Can post more if anyone wants to see them. I will keep some of course but these should be great for displays of all sorts or if you want to make a clock or have a nice wall hanger...

 

[jriddell88]

Seems pretty high to me , shit If you sell them for that, I could be rich.

 

[Eric Group]

Seems pretty high to me , shit If you sell them for that, I could be rich.

High? They sell comparable pieces UNFINISHED for way more than that in places I have seen them listed
($100+). Time ain't free man. They didn't fall off the tree lookin like this! Time running a chain saw, hours on a belt sander, multiple coats of lacquer... Hell I dropped $75 just on tools and materials alone to get STARTED! If you made these the way I do and sell them for less you damn sure wouldn't be rich- you'd be losing money!!

 

[Smoke]

High? They sell comparable pieces UNFINISHED for way more than that in places I have seen them listed
($100+). Time ain't free man. They didn't fall off the tree lookin like this! Time running a chain saw, hours on a belt sander, multiple coats of lacquer... Hell I dropped $75 just on tools and materials alone to get STARTED! If you made these the way I do and sell them for less you damn sure wouldn't be rich- you'd be losing money!!

Thats why I don't make stands for people anymore. Your labor is worth nothing. I can still see chainsaw marks as well as belt sander marks in all of them. You need a palm sander down to 400 grit and a good lacquer job. Sand all the lacquer off the first time and then continue to recoat.

For 65.00 to 45.00 I want it looking like a mirror. Just look at that first picture and tell me that's your finest work?

 

[Eric Group]

Thats why I don't make stands for people anymore. Your labor is worth nothing. I can still see chainsaw marks as well as belt sander marks in all of them. You need a palm sander down to 400 grit and a good lacquer job. Sand all the lacquer off the first time and then continue to recoat.

For 65.00 to 45.00 I want it looking like a mirror. Just look at that first picture and tell me that's your finest work?

Thanks for the advice and I agree- as I said at the end of the post- they all got another coat since these were taken... the goal is to get it thick enough that is has that glass feel. This heavy coat after they were sealed with the first ones should get it there! Pretty sure I got rid of any saw marks on the portion shown in these pics- I will double check the first one. I think most of what you are seeing is just reflection from different layers of lacquer... seeing the uneven reflection is what made me decide to go heavier with the next layer. There may be a few imperfections in the burlwood piece- there are actually a couple holes all the way through it from weathering! This was an old tree...

 

[Eric Group]

High? They sell comparable pieces UNFINISHED for way more than that in places I have seen them listed
($100+). Time ain't free man. They didn't fall off the tree lookin like this! Time running a chain saw, hours on a belt sander, multiple coats of lacquer... Hell I dropped $75 just on tools and materials alone to get STARTED! If you made these the way I do and sell them for less you damn sure wouldn't be rich- you'd be losing money!!

Just to further the dialogue about price point.. burl wood like that first piece... Is pricey. Took a quick look on eBay- first piece that popped up cut as a slab- looks pretty much unfinished to me... is larger, different type of wood, but costs $200!!
Not a rip off by any means, just an example.. I am not trying to convince people I am giving these away- the amount of work put into them already I just can't! LOL. My point is a pretty red piece of wood with a useable shape and size, gorgeous red grain, worked to a more finished state... is worth the 1/3 of that piece of walnut above IMO.

Think of the the time saved- finding, cutting, sanding, staining!

As for "my best work"? Well truth be told I have little to measure it against except pieces I have owned in the past because I have only done this once before some years ago! That was with the help of someone else... so the suggestions truly are appreciated Smoke! I just got some 400- I think 220 is as fine as is had on me!

 

[jriddell88]

I like the burl slab , and that's wasn't an attack just saying , I can go out grab a cedar tree, there everywhere here , start lopping pieces off sanding and lacquer them and sell, I like unique pieces, take it a step further and make the pieces worth it

 

[Eric Group]

I like the burl slab , and that's wasn't an attack just saying , I can go out grab a cedar tree, there everywhere here , start lopping pieces off sanding and lacquer them and sell, I like unique pieces, take it a step further and make the pieces worth it

Yeah, it isn't brain surgery, that is for sure! The piece I got into has some real interest wood up high on the log, that is where the good pieces came from and where I am focusing on going forward... these first pieces turned out better than expected honestly, that is why I decided to go ahead and sell them... the prices are not rock solid BTW- everything in life is negotiable IMO! That is why I always liked those auction sites man.. I am a salesman by trade but I dot not build out pricing models for stuff I sell (investments primarily...), so putting a price on the trees and stuff I sell online is always hard for me. I should have been more clear about that in my first response to your post! I was just trying to justify where I came up with the pricing...

 

[Smoke]

I think the buckeye burl is a very hard to come by thing. Burls are sometimes below the surface of the ground and not easy to find. Also Buckeye grows at very elevation specific areas. Here they grow at around the 4000 foot range. $198.00 for that burl is outrageous. Anyone paying that kind of money for that deserves to have his wallet raped.

Here are some cool pieces some are finished and some are raw waiting for finish. Most of these are larger about 16" x 12".



The first one is ash burl. I can't wait to do this one.



The rest are myrtle burl. This one looks like it has finish on it but it is raw.

 

[Smoke]

These three are birdseye huckleberry burl. You can see I didn't pay a fortune for them and even with labor these could be sold relatively inexpensive.



Heres a couple myrtle with finish.

 

[jriddell88]

I would also suggest not using a belt sander , sanding against grain is not good for this type of job, also suggest orbital sanders

 

[_#1_]

Do the kind of tree dictate price? Like a redwood vs myrtle?

 

[justBonsai]

Do the kind of tree dictate price? Like a redwood vs myrtle?

Both the accessibility of the wood and how easy it is to work will dictate its price.

Some beautiful burls can sometimes be soft or rotted and need to be "stabilized" with a epoxy in order to be worked.


Plain old redwood is cheap but if you buy the old growth stuff it will cost you quite a bit more. Most of the old growth redwood trees are on public land and are protected. If you buy old growth redwood it probably is from reclaimed wood, harvested many decades if not more ago, or from private land. Things like this will increase price.

 

[sorce]

I want it looking like a mirror.

Go get your shinebox!

Sorce

 

[M. Frary]

Looks like I should be collecting burls at work instead of grinding them up.

 

[Eric Group]

Both the accessibility of the wood and how easy it is to work will dictate its price.

Some beautiful burls can sometimes be soft or rotted and need to be "stabilized" with a epoxy in order to be worked.


Plain old redwood is cheap but if you buy the old growth stuff it will cost you quite a bit more. Most of the old growth redwood trees are on public land and are protected. If you buy old growth redwood it probably is from reclaimed wood, harvested many decades if not more ago, or from private land. Things like this will increase price.

These three are birdseye huckleberry burl. You can see I didn't pay a fortune for them and even with labor these could be sold relatively inexpensive.

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Heres a couple myrtle with finish.
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Lots of good info coming out in this thread! Thanks for the pics smoke and the knowledge bluemon... I have always wanted to get into making these but found it hard to get reliable info on the best techniques!

How about curing the wood? These smaller pieces were from a spot that appears to have dried naturally over years of exposure, and were also allowed to dry on the log a couple months after the tree fell... I got some much larger sections from a stump right after the storm though, they were still fresh and are cracking a little bit- what is the best way to handle wood like this to avoid that?
The cracking started within a day or so after they were cut, and these smaller pieces haven't shown any changes in the couple weeks since I took them so I think they are fine! Just wondering if I go get some more large ones, are there steps I can take to avoid the cracking?

 

[Eric Group]

Looks like I should be collecting burls at work instead of grinding them up.

You should! I would get som from you if you get some cool ones from trees I don't have here

 

[Eric Group]

As for the ones I am selling... I guess I will just handle it like I do the trees I sell- list them on the auction site for close to/ a little less than I want to get and let the buyers set the price!

Thanks again for all the input!!

 

[wireme]

Lots of good info coming out in this thread! Thanks for the pics smoke and the knowledge bluemon... I have always wanted to get into making these but found it hard to get reliable info on the best techniques!

How about curing the wood? These smaller pieces were from a spot that appears to have dried naturally over years of exposure, and were also allowed to dry on the log a couple months after the tree fell... I got some much larger sections from a stump right after the storm though, they were still fresh and are cracking a little bit- what is the best way to handle wood like this to avoid that?
The cracking started within a day or so after they were cut, and these smaller pieces haven't shown any changes in the couple weeks since I took them so I think they are fine! Just wondering if I go get some more large ones, are there steps I can take to avoid the cracking?

If the wood is stil green or partially green it can be stabilized with PEG. Polyethylene Glycol.

http://owic.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/pubs/peg.pdf

 

[Eric Group]

If the wood is stil green or partially green it can be stabilized with PEG. Polyethylene Glycol.

http://owic.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/pubs/peg.pdf

Cool- is PEG something easy to find?