How to cut curly Maple

[Burl Source]

This is just a quick and easy way to cut curly maple for the best figure.
I didn't take photos of the cutting but I think you can get the idea.

Yesterday I was walking from my office to my cutting area.
I glanced over and noticed this piece of wood that was being used as a piece of landscape decoration.
Not sure why I never noticed it before. It has been right outside my door for at least a year.

When you look closer you see a ridged surface. That is what you see on the exterior of a piece of wood that will have curly figure.
This piece also has a zig zag grain pattern which is an indicator that there will be good figure on all surfaces.

Here I cut a strip trying to follow the grain as closely as possible.

The cut surface that is at a right angle to the exterior surface of the wood is the quarter sawn surface.
That is what shows the curly figure best as well as the small flecks in the wood.

The cut surface that is parallel to the exterior surface of the wood is the flat sawn surface.
Normally that surface does not show as dramatic figure. But the zig zag grain caused the flat sawn surface to have good figure as well.

This wood is not for sale. It will be several months before it will be ready to get stabilized. I just wanted to give an idea how to cut curly wood.

I have also heard a lot of people ask how the make the curly figure stand out in the wood.
You can force lightly figured wood to make a better showing with brown leather dye.
But......if it is a really good figured piece, it stands out on it's own.
This piece was just sanded to 120 grit and sprayed with a light coat of lacquer. When it is sanded finer the intensity of the figure will multiply.

 

[fast14riot]

Great explanation! That flat sawn side has some cool looking figure! I bet it would be just beautiful with an aqua fortis treatment!


-Xander

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The one point many newer makers miss is that by orienting the block with the quilted part top and bottom, and the curly part on the sides, the handle will have a superb pattern and curl as well. The reason is that the curvature of the handle will show both features....more curl to the side and more quilt to the top. Because the eye will follow the curl, it will appear to cover the entire handle surface, same for the quilt.

I always orient any rays on the sides. Buckeye burl is another wood that can have rays the will make a nice handle a show winner with the right orientation.

Cutting the handle blocks a bit on the large side allows the wood to be rotated as needed, and used to its best advantage.

 

[Burl Source]

Cutting the handle blocks a bit on the large side allows the wood to be rotated as needed, and used to its best advantage.

Stacy makes a good point about cutting oversized so you can orient the pattern in the grain and figure to fit the shape of your handle.
Too many people will cut a piece of wood to get the maximum number of blocks.
Doing that you end up with a bunch of mediocre pieces.
My thought is that it is better to have fewer pieces that look a whole lot better.

Another reason for cutting oversized is that the wood will move a bit when drying. So you will lose some of the size when you trim up the dried block.
Then you will lose a little more material when you clean it up after you get it stabilized.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

+1 on his size.

I will note that Mark's blocks are not only superb quality ( I think he burns the seconds in the wood stove), but they are well cut. I have never found one that I didn't think was better than I expected.
Yes, you can buy a cheaper block from other wood sellers, but you will be hard pressed to find an equal block for less money. Matter of fact, it may be hard to fine equal blocks from most wood sellers.

 

[mete]

You had to trip over that before you realized it had fantastic figure ? Need new glasses !!
Hard maple is my favorite and there are many types of figure with various names , I even have a fancy screwdriver with hard maple that Stacy made for me !

 

[grizzled gizzard]

Thank you for taking the time to post this, Mark. I'll try cutting the way I think you are explaining, and see what I find. The only native omg closed grain hardwood around here is iron wood, and I'll try to find a burl.

I'm sure it will be better and more cost effective to get some from you, but it would be cool to have handles from trees I find.

I will see what I need after the Blade Show.