I love working with exotic wood, and I’ve been searching a long time for good Malaysian burl wood.
While making my wood pens, I’ve worked a lot Box Elder, Black Ash, Maple, Walnut, and Olive burls. I knew Malaysia is a rich source of wood, but most of the exotic wood species here are under-appreciated and hard to get.
Most of the more exotic Malaysian wood is exported. Getting one in ready supply is challenging.
I was fortunate enough to get hold of a slab of exquisite Merbau burl, as you can see from the pictures.
It’s a two-tone slab with heartwood and sapwood. The contrast of the golden-brown and yellow is so gorgeous on this one.
The burl pattern is just as impressive as any other burl wood I’ve worked with. Best of all, this slab of Malaysian burl wood was pretty inexpensive. Shipping was dirt cheap for me since it was delivered via local post.
I’ve also seen pictures of other burls like Langsat, Kemuning, and Acasia. In my opinion, these burls deserve way more recognition than they currently get.
Here’s an example of Langsat burl, spotted on Facebook:
I look forward to buying and sourcing more Malaysian burl wood for my smaller projects. Hook me up if you know where I can get some!
