Is this a quilted bird's eye maple?

C

cncrned_ctzen

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I've recently bought a BEM wood slab. However, I think there are ridges in between that are similar to quilted maple. So is this actually a quilted BEM?

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That looks like regular birdseye to me. Quilted is more like this.
 

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Mase said:
That looks like regular birdseye to me. Quilted is more like this.
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Thanks for your reply! It seems that based on the pictures that you posted, which are examples of quilted maple, the figures of quilted, tiger, curly maple are almost the same. How could you differentiate one from the other? I really appreciate your help. I'm still learning. Thanks in advance! :)
 
cncrned_ctzen said:
Thanks for your reply! It seems that based on the pictures that you posted, which are examples of quilted maple, the figures of quilted, tiger, curly maple are almost the same. How could you differentiate one from the other? I really appreciate your help. I'm still learning. Thanks in advance! :)
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You certainly do have Quilted Maple there. It is easier to see in the pic
of the "back" side of the board where very little BEye is showing.

FWIW - mase post is of more intense Fiddleback aka Tiger Striped Maple.

Dale(big fan of the quilted)
 
You have Quilted Birdseye Maple.
Quilted does not have the same tighter stripes like Tiger/Curly has.
Quilted kind of flows here and there like yours instead of the ring pattern
Tiger/Curly has.
 
cueman said:
You have Quilted Birdseye Maple.
Quilted does not have the same tighter stripes like Tiger/Curly has.
Quilted kind of flows here and there like yours instead of the ring pattern
Tiger/Curly has.
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Very interesting. I have some wood like that. It's hard birdseye maple I got from a common wood supplier.
I'm certainly no wood expert, but I always thought that figure was the exposed sides of birdseyes that had been cut in half when the wood was cut. I didn't know that true quilt figure appeared in anything but soft maple.

A few years ago Roy Mason was good enough to sell me a fantastic piece of quilted maple, perhaps the best I've seen. I'm still saving it for something very special.

I don't post pictures on here out of pure laziness. I'll rectify that soon.

Robin Snyder
 
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I don't have the river of wood that some of the guys here do and certainly haven't seen as much, but even in my limited experience "quilted" maple, depending on the seller, can be widely varied. And I've found that it's not unusual for Birds-Eyes to be mixed in with Quilts.
Gary
 

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I bought several pieces of curly on EBay. When I took it out of the box, I was quite pleased to see that it looked like the wood in Roy's pics.

Some of it actually shimmered if you held it right.
 
carguy said:
Very interesting. I have some wood like that. It's hard birdseye maple I got from a common wood supplier.
I'm certainly no wood expert, but I always thought that figure was the exposed sides of birdseyes that had been cut in half when the wood was cut. I didn't know that true quilt figure appeared in anything but soft maple.

A few years ago Roy Mason was good enough to sell me a fantastic piece of quilted maple, perhaps the best I've seen. I'm still saving it for something very special.

I don't post pictures on here out of pure laziness. I'll rectify that soon.

Robin Snyder
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You are pretty much right. See Gary's picture. The middle piece is just looking at the side of the eyes giving it the curl look you are speaking of. But look at the top two pieces and I would call them Tiger or Curly. The Bottom one I would call quilted. The next to the bottom piece is border line curly quilted, so it might fit either category.
 
I guess that my definition of quilted is not quite the same as most. I always felt that when you got curl so defined that it looked three dimensional, it was quilt. I don't know if my pictures show it but when you look at those pieces you would swear that the surface is wavy although it is perfectly flat.
 
Mase said:
I guess that my definition of quilted is not quite the same as most. I always felt that when you got curl so defined that it looked three dimensional, it was quilt. I don't know if my pictures show it but when you look at those pieces you would swear that the surface is wavy although it is perfectly flat.
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That translucent look you are talking about is what I look for in nice Curly.
I could be wrong, (would not be the first time), but I thought quilted meant a wavy curl that went this way and that instead of consistant ring like curls.
 
Mase said:
I guess that my definition of quilted is not quite the same as most. I always felt that when you got curl so defined that it looked three dimensional, it was quilt. I don't know if my pictures show it but when you look at those pieces you would swear that the surface is wavy although it is perfectly flat.
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Quilted - is the "shimmering" effect in Maple - it is not due to Bird Eyes
nor Curl. Tho it is often present along with either.

Look again at the OP's pic, second one down. the view on the right shows
patches of shiny effect. most are not linked to the back/bottom of
the BirdsEyes. That's Quilting.

HTH
Dale(known to shimmer on occasion)
 
The eBay link provided by Dick is of true Quilted Maple. It is found in the Big Leaf Maple tree.
The pics provided by the OP are of true BEM.
The only thing these two woods have in common is that they are both Maples. There are many Maples.
Big Leaf is a soft Maple, a very soft Maple. BEM is a hard wood (Sugar Maple).
You don't want to confuse the two in your construction. You'll need to core the Big Leaf Quilt.
I believe the pics provided by MASE are of Red Maple though Big Leaf can show curl also.
As to density, I'd place Red Maple btwn Big Leaf & Sugar Maple. It's not considered a hard wood.

HTHs, KJ
 
KJ you are right. The pictures I showed were from a 7' x 3' x 11/2" board of red maple. The whole board had the same figure. Whether it is quilted or curly I still love the figure.
 
The best way to make a decision is to look at lots of wood on your own. After a while, you'll recognize a difference.
 
which tree?

I wonder how the pros spot the trees with the high figure, or whether it can even be seen in any way before the tree is cut.

I have some big leaf maple on property I have in northern California. I could spare one. There's a lot of them.

Robin Snyder
 
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