What causes Birdseye in Maple?

Comments: Called birdseye maple (sometimes written out as bird's eye) because the tiny knots in the grain resemble small bird's eyes. The figure is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. Being tiny knots, the birdseye figure is most noticeable and pronounced on flatsawn pieces of lumber.

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Also to know is, where does birdseye maple come from?

Birdseye Maple is a beautiful wood that occurs naturally in less than 1/10th of 1% of all Sugar Maple trees. Its name aptly describes the "eyes" that develop in the tree when it is young. These eyes continue to develop, getting generally larger, as the tree grows. Birdseye maple is like a natural saltwater pearl.

One may also ask, what is birdseye maple worth? The average selling price of a bird's-eye maple log is in the range of $20,000 to $30,000 per 1,000 board feet. To put this in perspective, one double bottom truck fully loaded with the highest quality maple bird's-eye logs would be worth in excess of $700,000.

Secondly, is birdseye maple rare?

Birdseye maple is a rare and mysterious characteristic found in hard maple. Birdseye maple is excellent for custom pool cues, musical instruments, furniture, and small items such as jewelry boxes due to its unique and amazing figure.

What does a birdseye maple tree look like?

Birdseye maple is an irregularly grained cultivar of the maple or Acer species, with an aberrant but beautiful grain pattern. Instead of the regular vertical and more linear grain of maple, birdseye has a rounded, randomly swirling grain that is dotted with dark amber, brown or nearly black spots.

Related Question Answers

Is birdseye maple expensive?

Bird's eye maple may be expensive, up to several times the cost of ordinary hardwood. When working with bird's eye wood, it is advisable to take care in what tools are used, so as to prevent grain tearout. Also the more "eyes" there are in lumber, the weaker the wood tends to be.

Where does tiger maple come from?

Tiger maple wood comes from the red maple tree, a temperate hardwood tree that grows in the eastern United States and Canada.

How do I identify a sugar maple tree?

Look closely at the edges of the leaf. Sugar maple leaves have smooth, U-shaped margins between points. The leaves should also be round at the base. While many other maples also have smooth margins, the extremely common red maple (Acer rubrum) has sharp points and serrated or toothed margins between the lobes.

How do you identify a curly maple tree?

How to Recognize a Curly Maple Tree

1. Find a sugar maple. If you know where one is terrific.
2. Look at the exterior of the tree. It should be a mature tree, since young trees do not exhibit signs of the unusual grain.
3. Cut a cross section from a limb on the tree.
4. Pull off a piece of bark.
5. Mark the tree with yellow caution tape so you can find it again.

What is Spalted maple?

Much like Ambrosia Maple and other forms of figured maple, Spalted Maple is technically not a specific species of Maple, but rather a general description of any type of Maple that has been allowed to begin initial stages of decay, and then subsequently dried (preventing further decay).

What causes curly maple?

Curly Maple Tabletop by Dave Hurwitz In curly maple, the grain is wavy through the length of the board. The result is that when the wavy grain is planed flat, it appears to look ruffled, or tiger striped, due to the waviness in the grain.”

What is a burl on a tree used for?

It is valued and sought after by artists, furniture makers and sculptors. Burl wood can be found in many tree species and is used in making furniture, different types of veneer, inlays, turning wood, gun stocks, music wood, and other household items.

What is figured maple?

Figured wood has been sought and worshipped for its beauty for centuries. Any design, pattern, or distinctive mark that appears on the surfaces of wood may be described as figure, and it results from combinations of color, luster, texture, and grain.

Is birdseye maple a hardwood?

Birdseye maple. Birdseye Maple is not technically a distinct species of Maple, but rather, it's a figure that's occasionally found in Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) trees. Birdseye Maple is frequently sold in veneer form, but solid lumber is available as well.

Why is Burl so expensive?

The surprising story behind the beautiful, rare wood. Because the grain is twisted and interlocked, burl wood is extremely dense and resistant to splitting. Burls have become so valuable that poachers have even been known to cut them from the side of trees in national parks, such as the ancient redwoods in California.

Is Tiger maple the same as curly maple?

Also known as curly or flame maple, this figured version of the maple tree species is unique for the wavy stripes that form against the grain during growth. Tiger maples are rare and grow sporadically, accounting for only a small percentage of all maples. “Tiger maple, for me, is always steady.

What causes a tree to grow a burl?

A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over.

What kind of wood is purple?

Peltogyne, commonly known as purpleheart, amendoim, violet wood, amaranth and other local names (often referencing the colour of the wood) is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae; native to tropical rainforests of Central and South America; from Guerrero, Mexico, through Central America, and

What is wormy maple?

Wormy Maple (sometimes called “Ambrosia Maple”) is a grade of Soft Maple, specifically selected and sorted to show mineral streaks and color variations caused by the Ambrosia beetle. The beetle infests the live Maple tree, depositing larvae that bore small “worm holes” and discolor the wood.

What kind of wood is Bocote?

Bocote is an exotic wood native to Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. It features a wide range of grain patterns from straight to wild, with curved lines and swirls. The color ranges from golden brown to tan to golden yellow. It is a hard, heavy, and dense wood, strong and stiff, with a medium texture.

What are exotic woods?

Exotic species can include Bamboo, Brazilian Cherry, Cypress, Merbau, Mahogany and others. Some species that can be considered both include Birch, Cypress, Hickory and Walnut. Others want exotic wood specifically because exotics are typically harder than the domestic species.

Where does quilted maple come from?

Quilted maple comes from Western Bigleaf maple that grows in the northwest primarily. Birdseye maple is a variant of hard maple, and the majority of it comes from northern states, like the Upper Peninsula of MI, the New England states, and upper Minnesota.

Where does Ambrosia wood come from?

"Ambrosia" is a term that's commonly applied to lumber from eastern red and silver maples that has streaks of color caused by an infestation of the ambrosia beetle.

How do you identify a hard maple tree?

The Difference Between Hard Maple and Soft Maple

1. Check the end grain. Hard Maple grows at a slower rate than Soft Maple.
2. Observe the color. Hard Maple usually has a lighter, more uniformed color.
3. Look at the leaves. If the tree is still standing and yet to be harvested, take a look at its leaves.
4. Weigh the boards.
5. Do a test with Iron Sulfate test.