Acer spp. of the family Aceraceae. This is not a particular species of maple but rather a FIGURE of maple, and it can be either hard maple or red maple (which is a soft maple). when used with maple, the terms "flame" and "tiger" are both exact synonyms for "curly". My curly red maple pics are mostly on the red maple page, not here.
In maple, a tight curl that in any other wood would be called "fiddleback" is often (but not always) just called "curly". Several of the planks that I bought as curly would easily qualify for a legitimate designation of fiddleback, but the figure is so common in maple that many vendors don't both to make the distinction.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
a couple of sticks donated by Jim Glynn --- thanks Jim. These pics demonstrate quite well a phenomena that you'll see throughout this site, which is that head-on shots of curly wood tend to make the curl look weaker than it is whereas shots from an angle allow the curl to show up properly.
end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above. The end grain shot is too gray, update is just right,
both sides of a sample plank of curly red maple / Acer rubrum --- 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
END GRAIN UPDATE and a closeup of a quartersawn edge from the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of curly silver maple (a soft maple) / Acer saccharinum --- 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 curly silver maple (a soft maple) / Acer saccharinum --- 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 curly silver maple Acer saccharinum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Mark Peet, who produced this sample, had it as "fiddleback" which is quite reasonable, I just find that with maple a figure that in other woods would be called fiddleback for sure is often still just called curly. I forgot the ask Mark but I think the gray area is the mineral stain that is common to maple.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a plank of curly hard maple. The first side shown has been sanded to 240 grit
end grain of the piece directly above
both sides of a plank of curly hard maple. The first side shown has been sanded to 240 grit
end grain of the piece directly above
both sides of a plank of curly hard maple. The first side shown has been sanded to 240 grit
end grain of the piece directly above
plank and end grain
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
side shot of the same piece, taken because I noticed some nice ray flakes
plank and end grain
end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above
rough surfaced planks with weak curl
some small cut-offs I got in a mixed lot --- curl strength is mixed but generally weak.
plank
plank and closeup
plank and closeup
plank
plank and closeup
plank and closeup
plank
plank
plank and end grain
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
plank and end grain
end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above
two planks --- I continue to experiment with ways to capture the exact color of these planks and the ones above and I am never quite successful. These two planks are absolutely identical in color; the difference shown here is due to differences in my color correction, which still doesn't quite get it right. The actual wood is more white than what you see here --- it has no orange tint at all. In the first pic, the color has a false orange tint and in the second pic, the color has a faint (and false) blue or purpulish tint.
plank and closeup
plank
plank
plank
a set of small planks and a closeup
both sides of a 23" long, 3" thick piece of very nice curly maple; the curl is a bit better in person than what shows up in the pics --- HUGE enlargements are present
the end grain of the piece directly above
both sides of a 23" long plank with some minor water stains and a terrific curly figure
some 23" long planks with a light curl
planks photographed at a lumber yard --- these planks have the fairly weak curl that you should expect if you buy curly maple sight-unseen over the internet.
two views of a small curly red maple bowl blank and then the same piece mositened with water, which clearly improves the color and beauty of the piece, which by the way has a small amount of spalting.
side and end shots of a piece that cut-off of a large turning block that was sold to me as "redheart curly maple" (whatever that is --- presumably red maple) --- the end shot has a blue tinge that is not present in the wood, but otherwise the colors are accurate. This IS technincally "curly" but the amount of curl is pretty minor.
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
curly maple crotch
fiddleback hard maple veneer
an excellent example of curly veneer, seen up close
curly veneer, color is accurate.
curly veneer
curly veneer with WAY too much yellow/orange tint
curly maple veneer --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D. This was not listed as any paricular species so I did not put it together with the pair directly below, also from collection D
identical veneer samples of curly maple / Acer saccharinum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D. Because this pair was listed as a specific species, I did not put it in the same pic as the piece directly above, also from colleciton D.
flat cut curly maple veneer from COLLECTION E --- HUGE enlargements are present. Some of the darkening may be dirt but I think it's mostly just an age patina. I think this is probably red maple heartwood and that that accounts for the dark color as much as age does.
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
silver maple with curly figure (Acer dasycarpum) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views. Acer dasycarpum is, as nearly as I can tell, a rather obscure species of maple and NOT likely to be what you get when you buy curly maple in North America.
web pics:
flat cut, quartersawn, and end grain
some very high grade "curly" maple. In any other species these would unquestionably be listed as "fiddleback"
flat cut planks
flat cut planks --- I bought both of these and there is not a hint of yellow or orange in them; both are a nice clean white but the false colors are common for images of this species found on the web.
planks
the web pic of a plank that some of my own samples are taken from. This is an unusually accurate pic relative to what one normally finds on the internet
web pic of a couple of planks that some of my own samples are taken from. This is a totally inaccurate pic in terms of color --- there is not a hint of pink in the actual wood
curly maple slabs --- you have to go to the second enlargement to really see the curl
bowl blank and turning stock
pen blanks
fiddleback curly turning blocks all from the same vendor
rotary-cut veneer
veneer
quartersawn curly veneer
veneer, all from the same vendor
veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement available --- these are from the same vendor as the set directly above
fiddleback veneer, all from the same vendor
fiddleback veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement available --- these are from the same vendor as the set directly above
fiddleback veneer
curly crotch section (both sides shown)
curly maple guitar sets
fiddleback maple guitar sets
bread cutting board
curly maple bowls
a construct made from curly maple with a light spalt. I consider this to be VERY clever. I've never seen another one like it and it took me a minute or two to figure out how it was (or at least how it could be) done.
bottom of a curly maple bowl
bowls by Bryan Nelson (NelsonWood). Bryan fine-polishes his bowls with 1200 or even higher grit sandpaper while they are spinning at high speed on the lathe and then finishes them there with a friction polish of his own devising, thus achieving a shine and color vibrancy that is beautiful to behold. The first of these is bigleaf maple and the other two are hard maple
curly maple goblet turned using multiple-center technique --- both enlargements are present and the second enlargement really shows it off well
curly maple guitar back and side, made by Gregory Pizzeck who has this as "tiger maple" and who tells me that he thinks "tiger maple" is NOT the same as curly maple. My own research indicates pretty conclusively that this is not correct. "Tiger" is just a designation used for either hard maple or red maple that has a curly figure. So "flame", "tiger", and "curly" all mean exactly the same thing when used with maple.
gorgeous curly maple rocking chair and closeup
spalted curly maple guitar --- the spalting doesn't show up completley clearly until the 2nd enlargement.
curly maple dulcimer sides and back photographed at a state fair.
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