[NatureNS] Maple with wavy grain.

Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 15:22:10 -0400
From: "George E. Forsyth" <g4syth@nspes.ca>
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Hi David,

I'm always interested in our native tree woods, especially the  
"exotics". Your tiger maple could have been a good find before it was  
cut up for firewood. Nick Tipney on the North Mountain used to export  
this wood to Europe. He would buy it from the firewood cutters, have  
it planked and solar kiln dried and then send a container to Europe  
for the luthiers there. His website:  
http://www.vectorinstruments.com/index.html

Almost all good violins have tiger maple veneer backs over spruce  
sound boards. See an image search of Stradivari instruments.

This lumber company in Ohio has a bit of an explanation for your grain  
pattern:
http://crlumber.com/tiger-maple/

As yet there is no explanation; environmental, genetic, disease,  
insect, all have been suggested.

See eBay to see what even a small blank is worth for wood turners, and  
wood craftsmen. It seems a shame to just burn the wood, but it is  
often too late to see the grain by the time it is blocked and then  
checks after drying for a season. Sometimes you can see the grain  
through the bark on a trunk when it is standing or after it is felled,  
often it doesn't extend through the whole tree, only for a short  
section of the trunk. There are other patterns of native hardwood  
grains; birds eye, flame, wavy, ambrosia, and spalted. The ambrosia  
and spalted are fungal patterns that can happen when the tree is left  
as a log in damp conditions, it is hard to control and is very  
unpredictable in its results. The wood can be stable if it is sawn and  
dried properly at just the right stage of decay.

Birch and maple are the most common for these patterns but others can  
produce unusual grains as well, my kitchen floor is local poplar and  
there are boards that have flame and tiger patterns!

Great to see the surprises in a woodpile!

Thanks, George Forsyth




Quoting David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>:

> Dear All,                                            Jan 4, 2015
>    I came across some Red Maple wood with curious grain. I did not  
> notice this when I split it so am not sure which end of the stick is  
> up. Features are described in comments about image.
> www.flickr.com/photos/91817127@N08/15574369934/
>
>    Is this some kind of reaction wood or something else ?
>
> Yt, DW, Kentville



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