What makes curly maple curly?

[KyFlintlock]

Guys,

Just wondering if there is any way to tell if a piece of standing maple might have the nice "curly" look. Does anything in particular give it the "curl" that you can look for?

I have a lot of trees I can cut, and thought I might get a few now to work on in a few years, but hate to sharpen the saw blade that much. :winking:

Thanks
Wess

 

[Vaino]

Years ago I had a verbal agreement w/ a local contract logger that if he thought a hard maple tree might be curly, he should run it thru and check. Most of the trees were sawn into railroad ties and when the maples weren't curly, he charged me for the price of the ties he "ruined" because of the smaller cuts. Well, that "got old" after charging me for many ties and he never did find a curly log. Good education......Fred

 

[Old Salt]

Flame maple, also known as flamed maple, curly maple, fiddleback or tiger stripe, is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating pattern, producing wavy lines known as "flames". This effect is often mistakenly said to be part of the grain of the wood; it is more accurately called "figure", as the distortion is perpendicular to the grain direction. Prized for its beautiful appearance, it is used frequently in the manufacturing of musical instruments, such as violins, and fine furniture. it looks sexy on guitars.

Here's the link even though I can't get it to link [url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_maple[/url]

Old Salt

 

[bioprof]

Zonie had a good explanation a while back on the following thread: [url] http://www.muzzleloadingforum.../105592/post/105592/hl/curly+maple+Zonie[/url]/

 

[BlackNet]

Tiger stripe comes when the tree develops wavy grain. It may be the result of a viral infection in some cases. In other cases, it is genetic.

Tiger stripe sometimes happens when a tree grows in soil that has minerals concentrated in an area of the root system, feeding part or all of the tree and affecting its color. This is called 'mineral runs' around here, in redwood.

Most of this type wood that I have seen is from the root or the base trunk of the tree next to the ground.

'burl' is caused by trapped cells from a limb that keep reproducing over and over, think of it as cancer.

Ed

 

[Zonie]

From what I've read, a Maple tree with curly (wavy) grain looks just like all of the other Maple trees.

The only way to determine if it is 'Curly Maple' is to cut a chunk out of it and split it.
If the split wood has a wavy pattern to it, it is Curly Maple.

Most Maple trees have straight grain.

zonie

 

[paulvallandigham]

The " Fiddleback " in maple is due to stress put on the tree as it is grown. Wind moves the trunk of the tree back and forth, and the stress shows up most at the base of the tree, where the trunk meets the roots. The stress of bending in the winds cause very minor cell damage, which is then healed with more sap, and this leads to that wavy pattern in the wood. You cannot see any of this looking at the bark of a tree. The twisting in the bark tells you that that the tree did not grow completely straight, but turned as branches were forced in one direction by prevailing winds, creating a barber's pole effect in the grain. The Fiddleback is at right angles to the grain. The only way to see it is to cut out a slab, and look. Washing the surface in water, or oil before looking at it good light will help you see the fiddleback better on a new plank. You can help highlight and bring out fiddleback by how you sand the finish, scrape off the wkiskers, and then bone the wood before finishing it.Boning puts more stress on the surface cells of the stock and multiplies the visible fiddleback that you will see. It was there all the time, of course, but boning brings it all out. Different species of maple give you different grain and stress patterns, so read all the posts here, and also the ones that are referred to by the other members above. You will get a very quick, and accurate lesson on how wood is cut, and how these kinds of patterns are best brought out for your viewing pleasure.

 

[sidelock]

My Dad could tell if a maple tree was curley by stripping a little bark and inspecting the wood. He was a maker of musical instruments for many years, and also built many rifle stocks. If you would like to read something about my Dad look up Seth Summerfield Luthier.

 

[RMillet]

My uncle cut a Maple up in the Adirondacks three years ago clearing a lot for a camp. The tree lay mostly off the ground for the better part of two years before anyone bothered cutting any of it up. When we finally started blocking the top up and splitting it, we found it was curly so I put a halt to anymore blocking. The next week he peeled the bark from the bottom 20 feet or so and you could plainly see the curl in the wood underneath the bark. I've cut a couple of nice slabs off for stocks and it's curly all the way through. Not a super high grade of Maple but I'd probably grade it 3 or 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. I'm gonna get at least 4 to 6 good longrifle stocks and who knows how many pistol stocks out of it.

 

[sidelock]

Way to go. Good luck with your stocks. :thumbsup:

 

[KyFlintlock]

Thanks so much everyone.

Wess

 

[Mike Brooks]

I've always been able to see compression curl in all species of trees as they stand. Usually In the base or around large branches.
Of course, I'm also one of those gifted folks that can use a divining rod too..... :hmm: