I was at my local Woodcrafters store and ran across all these ‘burl blocks.’ I asked about them. Somehow they got them from Italy. They were going to be turned by a car manufacturer into shift knobs and other high end wood accent pieces. A friend of mine makes knives and thought he might like them for knife handles. One of the guys that works there made a hidden box out of one of them. (didn’t get a picture of it) but here is a pic of the blank. I am thinking of getting me a couple of them.