Madrone is known mostly for its burls, and occasionally veneer, and is less well known for lumber, although it is available as such, particularly on the upper West coast of the USA and up into Canada where it is known as arbutus (my thanks to Bob Elkins for pointing that out to me and also for correcting the spelling of the botanical name). It has a fine, uniform texture with a pleasing pinkish color and is very stable in service.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
sample plank and end grain, sold to me as madrona (yes, that's with an "a") / Arbutus menziesii
both sides of a sample plank of Pacific madrone / Arbutus menziesii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Pacific madrone / Arbutus menziesii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
NOT a raw wood color slab table top shot in a furniture store. I am NOT sure I got the color corrected quite right, even considering that it has a finish on it. HUGE enlargements are present.
NOT a raw wood color slab table top and a closeup, shot in a furniture store. I am not sure I got the color correction quite right even considering that it has a finish on it. HUGE enlargements are present.
both sides of a sample plank of burl Pacific madrone / Arbutus menziesii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. While I believe that it is legitimate to call this piece a "burl" because of the way madrone burls look, I have to say that it is the most bland madrone "burl" that I have ever seen and I do not consider it in any way to be representative of madrone burl. See my veneer sheets below for better examples of what madrone burl really looks like
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of strawberry tree (European madrone) / Arbutus unedo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
quartersawn veneer with ray flakes that show up much better in the enlargement
burl veneer
madrone burl veneer, all from the same vendor. This degree of color variation is quite common in madrone burl (and in fact this is not at all the full range of colors available)
veneer that spent some time on my mystery wood page before I became familiar enough with this species to agree with Alan Belski who identified it as madrone.
bookmatched burl veneer --- note the ugly green spots in the lower middle. A fungal growth, perhaps?
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
madrone (Arbutus menziesii, also listed as madrona laurel and strawberry tree) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are present for all 3 views
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
Arizona madrone (Arbutus arizonica)) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
listed as a spalted plank, it doesn't look very spalted to me but I'm not personally familiar with spalted madrone
flat cut veneer
flat cut figured veneer (very weak figure)
figured veneer --- looks to be quartersawn and with a VERY weak "figure", if any
veneer
crotch veneer
solid burls
burl pairs
burl bowl blanks
burl veneer
burl veneer labeled madrone / Arbutus mensiesii and all from the same vendor
burl veneer sheets that have been moistened to bring out the color; these are from a vendor whom I know to produce green pics of wood that is nowhere near green in color. It is the kind of nonsense you find on the internet.
labeled as "dark" burl veneer
figured planks from the BogusColorVendor which of course means that the color is highly suspect. This is probably a mild pinkish brown, with none of the red/orange that they show. They are THAT dishonest.
unfigured planks from the same vendor
products:
knife handle (and closeup)pics provided by Daniel Dill, whom I thank for these excellent pics.
CLICK TWICE ON PICS TO SEE ENLARMENTS --- THIS THING IS AMAZING 3 views of an amazing flame carving worked and photographed by Roger Cook with my thanks for providing the pics. It's about 18" high plus the base. Roger was not positive but he thought that the wood, which he had sitting around for 15 to 20 years, was madrone. The wood was unseasoned and an orange color when he bought it. Roger is a wood carver and when he started working it he found it was full of voids and rotten sections, so he just kept removing bad stuff until he had an idea what he wanted to make and kept going. He then sanded it to 800 grit and used bristle sanders to bring it to a polished surface. From there he used jewelers rouge and buffing wheels followed with two coats of wax. Both levels of enlargement are present.
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