Square Cut Burl Series

During a motorcycle trip through California redwood country, STACKLAB founder and creative director Jeffrey Forrest visited the Pacific Lumber Company’s defunct Palco mill. Dating from 1908, it was the largest redwood log mill in the world, handling logs as wide as 22 feet.

Although the mill had been decommissioned in 2004, a treasure remained, unacknowledged and unappreciated, floating in the mill pond. Several large burls, the deformed knotty rounded outgrowth of a tree trunk or branch, that had been deemed unsuitable for lumber applications of the era and discarded, remained in the pool.

Although the burls possessed highly figured wood grain, in their as-found state, the ancient burls, 2,500 to 4,000 years old, would crumble under the slightest load. STACKLAB developed a proprietary preservation process yielding workable burl that will not decay.

The burl is cut to the specified dimensions of the tabletop’s envelope. Formwork is then built around the burl and smoked resin poured in. For 10 weeks, the resin permeates and strengthens the delicate burl and fills any voids. Each Cut Burl piece is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to have been sustainably harvested.