Acer spp. of the family Aceraceae. This is not a particular species of maple, but rather a FIGURE of maple, generally, I believe, of soft maple but it also occurs in hard maple. The figure is caused by undulations in the growth rings and, as you can see by comparing the various samples below, the greater the swing of the undulations the better the figure.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
both sides of a gorgeous piece of quilted big leaf maple contributed to the site, along with the two samples directly below this, by Mike Stafford whom I thank profusely for this terrific sample of quilted maple. The quilting shows up better in the end grain shot directly below. The first face is sanded to 400 grit, the second to about 240 grit.
end grain and a side showing the cambium. You can see from the end grain how undulations in the growth rings are the cause of the quilt and you can see in the cambium that the quilting is obvious when looking at the unsheathed bole. Unfortunately, when the bark is on, you can't see any sign of the quilting.
both sides and the an angled shot of another piece of quilted big leaf maple contributed by Mike. The color difference between this sample (and the one directly below) and the one directly above is correct. The one above is much whiter than this one, which is a light orange color. As with the one above, the quilting shows up best in the angled shot. The first face is sanded to 400 grit, the second not at all.
both sides and the end grain of another piece of quilted big leaf maple contributed by Mike. The first face is sanded to 400 grit, the second not at all.
both sides of a couple of pieces of lightly quilted bigleaf maple thinwood
stool seat of quilted bigleaf maple, shot in a furniture store. There was a finish on this but it was not one that yellowed the wood. This is a gorgeous piece. HUGE enlargements are present and show the grain extremely well.
both sides of a lightly quilted hard maple plank contributed to the site by Rob Mathison whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. HUGE enlargements are present
angled shot of the face grain to show the quilting a little more clearly and a side grain closeup of a quartersawn surface on one side showing typical maple small ray flakes
end grain and end grain closeup of the right side of the end
end grain closeup and the corresponding END GRAIN UPDATE of the left side of the end
both sides of a sample plank of quilted bigleaf maple / Acer macrophyllum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor listed this sample as "curly" but there is absolutely no curl in it at all. What there is, is a very slight quilt that is very hard to see in these pics.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of quilted bigleaf maple / Acer macrophyllum --- 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
face and side grain of a quilted soft maple bowl blank donated by Jim Glynn. Thanks, Jim. The quilting shows up just a little better in the wood than it does in these pics. I took a side angle shot hoping to get a better representation of the quilting but it didn't help so I didn't post it. The yellow in the upper right corner of the face shot is an effect of the lighting --- the color of the wood is uniform throughout. The slight orange area on the lower left of the side grain shot is where I did not fully sand off the sealer Jim put on the wood. The vertical lines on the side grain shot are sanding scratches, not inherent in the wood.
plank pair pic contributed by Todd Levy; thanks Todd. These pieces have been moistened for the pic.
veneer
This veneer sheet was loaned to me by John Koehn whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
quilted American maple veneer pic contributed by Danny Tjan, whom I thank for these and other contributions to the site. Although it is certainly true that this piece has some interesting figure, I don't think I would call it quilted because the figure is so sporadic. More like "bumpy" :-)
two sheets of quilted maple, each followed by a closeup. These pics were contributed to the site by Danny Tjan whom I thank for these and other contributions. Both levels of enlargement are present and the quilting shows up really well on them
type chart
I don't know where this originated --- it was sent to me by a correspondent: AHA ! I see from checking my back emails that this was provided by Jim Glynn, who donated the quilted maple at the top of the page, and who has also donated several other woods to the site.
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
"blister" figured sugar maple (Acer saccharinum) from The Wood Book --- one level of enlargement is available for each of the 3 views. I have not otherwise seen any reference to "blister" figure so take this to be quilted figure, although actually, it DOES look a little different. The Wood Book also lists this as "landscape maple" but I don't know whether that is supposed to be a common name for Acer saccarinum or if it refers to the figure, as I have not otherwise encountered that name.
web pics:
planks
planks listed as quilted bigleaf maple
plank of the quilted form sometimes designated as a "sausage" quilt --- actually, this one is not a good representation of a sausage quilt, but it's not so far off as to make the designation bogus.
plank and closeup --- this heavy rolling quilted look is sometimes called "sausage quilt"
turning stock
spalted plank
veneer
quarter matched veneer
"flame" quilted maple
curly quilted maple
bookmatched pairs of what appears to be VERY high quality quilted maple. Although not advertised as curly, the first piece in particular appears be almost "fiddleback" instead of quilted.
guitar sets
guitar fronts from quilted maple
guitar backs of quilted maple
guitar front --- the body is solid cocobolo and can be seen on my cocobolo page
