Here are a couple of shots of a paneled headboard that I just completed. The frame is cherry and I was looking around the wood supplier for some figured maple when I found a 4-foot cutoff of this maple. It’s covered completely in irridescent “bubbles”. That was the only piece they had, and the only one I’ve seen. It worked very well with the cherry frame and I expect as the cherry darkens, the effect will be even better. The second picture is closer to the true color. The panels are finished with shellac and wax and the frame is finished with Arm-R-Seal and wax.
Pete
Edited 6/26/2007 10:29 pm ET by PeteBradley
Replies
Pete,
That's nice stuff. I have a few boards like that in my stash waiting for the right project.
It's normally only found in hard maple, some refer to it as pommelle maple, or more commonly called "blistered" maple. Looks like rain drops scattered across the board.
Lee
About 8 years ago, my father and I bought the contents of a carpenters loft from an old estate in Northern Vermont. Blistered Maple was among the stock. I'd never seen Maple quite like it until then and have never seen it elsewhere - until now. It really is beautiful wood but, as a result, it's very difficult to grain match. Impossible, really. In my take from the sale were several 8/4 and 16/4 timbers, 8 to 10 foot in length, that range from 10 to 14 inches in width. I've resawn one timber to 16th veneers for use on a desk. (pics of the wood below)
One timber from the bunch was sawn close to a crotch. It is so highly figured with blister and curl that I'm not sure it will ever be useful beyond being resawn to veneer.
I'm happy to see someone else with similar stock. And I might have guessed you were from New England without checking your profile. Again, Vermont is the only state I've ever known to produce this particular figure in Hard Maple.
Please excuse the picture quality. It's the best I could get from a phone!
Regards...
Western Washington big leaf Maple.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Nice.What I've seen from the Vermont Maple is figure more like Pete's (think air bubbles floating up in a water column). Not quite so grand as your example.Typical New England: Even the wood in stingy...
There seems to be a wide variety of figure in the maple growing around here, bubbles, fiddle back, flame, quilt, etc. That was the only picture I had handy. I just found another picture. I do love figured wood!
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It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Edited 6/27/2007 7:02 pm by dgreen
I guess Mother Nature must have been a Yankee. She realized that if wood like that were common, the un-knowing would think of it as a defect. Personally, I think that is some beautiful stuff and would love to see that coming off the mill into my own pile. Though I would probably just wind up hoarding it and never thinking any project I was working on "worthy".Andy
Oops did'nt resize properly. Try this one.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Don, is that wood you have in your shop? Wow. If it is, and you took the pics, fantastic job.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
When I worked at the tool store I had a logger that came in occasionally and one day he had a bunch of wood piled in his truck, I asked about it and he told me it was maple that was'nt clear enough to sell as lumber so he was taking it home to burn it! I bought all he would sell me and made the mistake of telling him it was valuable, I still got a few pieces after that but the guitar makers and the Italians and Japanese got the vast majority at prices I could'nt touch. I have it stashed away waiting for it to tell me what it's supposed to be!------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Don,
The pics you posted have what I would have called a "quilted" figure -- do you know what species of maple this was?
The pics posted above by the New Englanders look like "blistered" figure that I've seen on hard maple here in Vermont. I got some last fall from a sawyer who said "I don't know what to call this, but it comes up occasionally." It is interesting, but certainly isn't as valuable as the quilted maple you have.
-Andy
Andy,
I'm over here in Northern NH, just 10 miles from Canada.
An old time forrester friend of mine tells me that there is a goodly amount of bubbled/blistered figured maple along the Connecticut River Valley, especially up in this area. According to him you will also see some further south in sandy areas. In addition he tells me that it is found in hearty trees, read BIG!
Another friend who was a log buyer for Ethan Allen confirms this as well. But that was back when they made REAL furniture. In addition this figure can also be seen in Birch.
I have several pieces of both stashed in my woodpile and have heard whispers from them occasionally!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
I got my 2-3 12/4 boards, and some 8/4 boards of blistered maple from a farm on Lake Champlain. Next time I'm there I'll ask how big the tree was. It's neat stuff. I'm planning to use one slab of it as a leg vise on my workbench.
-Andy
Edited 6/28/2007 2:21 pm ET by VTAndy_
> I'm planning to use one slab of it as a leg vise on my workbenchYou're gonna what???Pete
Pete,
Yes, I'm going to use it (well, a 2-inch thick, 3 foot long section of it) for something that I look at and use every day.
Oh, yeah, and I paid like 2.75/bf for it. I suppose that might shock you as well. Sigh.
-Andy
Hi Andy,I've got a small, in section, 8' long piece of some real nice Tiger Maple that I plan on turning into chisel handles.Now if I can only find a 3/4 HP motor for the lathe............Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Hi Bob,
I guess shoveling snow 6 months of the year is the small price we pay to have access to inexpensive, beautifully figured sugar maple! (+ syrup as a bonus)
-Andy
Hi Andy,
It's a beautiful thing though.
Just made my first cabriole leg tonight out of some pine stock I had kicking around. Just a rough cut at present but I'm having a great time learning from you folks in here.
Got a call from an old friend who has some maple and birch logs he wants me to take a look at. Says they definitely have some figur in 'em.
I'll let you know.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Andy,
The picture Don posted is of western bigleaf maple.
Lee
Oh man,
I am soo sorry. It looks like youi got a batch of the bubbly Maple board that has been going around. I'll tell you what..... just send me the rest so I can properly dispose of it.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
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