Fiddleback verses

[avbill]

Can anyone tell me the difference between fiddleback verses curly wood?

thanks

 

[1080Wayne]

I think a rose by any other name is still a rose . I would assume the fiddleback name came from it`s use in fiddles , either because it has slightly better tonal quality or because the fiddle makers and their customers just liked the looks of it . I regard it as a marketing gimmick , the same as tiger maple .

 

[jdmacdo]

Flame maple (tiger maple), also known as flamed maple, curly maple, ripple maple, fiddleback or tiger stripe, is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating chatoyant pattern, producing wavy lines known as "flames".

Don't think there is a difference between them...

 

[KenV]

Gilmer Woods defines Curly Figure as "Wavy grain forming undulations or distortions in the wood fibers. Can be found on both tangential and radial surfaces, although the figure is bolder and brighter on the radial surface (example: fiddleback maple)."

Gilmer does not define Fiddleback

A working definition might be --Dense (close together) even spaced ribbons of curl are the standard for the up grade maple music wood -- commonly called fiddle back. Look at blanks for music instruments at specialty vendors to see these.

There are no precise standards, so vendors can call things what ever they wish -- and tend to use the terms that attract the better price, all other things being equal.

 

[plantman]

Bill; Various types of figures are obtained in the Maple tree. Curly, often called fiddleback figure because of being used on the backs of violins, birds eye Maple, Maple Burl, Leaf figure Maple, Quilted or figured Maple, Rotary cut hard Maple, called "white" Maple, Flame or Tiger Maple, and straight grained Maple. I may have missed a few. Maple burl is the most exotic. Comes from the Sugar maple and inherits the colors of it's fall leaves - red and gold. Any defect or damage on a tree can cause a burl to form as it heals over. Curly Maple usualy comes from the Sugar Maple, and is quite common in soft Maples. Rarest Maple figure is a very strong bird's-eye figure. I beleive that the different grains and patterns in trees are caused by the stress placed upon that tree in it's growing conditions. A tree growing on the side of a hill will have more stress on one side, causing compression of the grain on that side. The old lumberjacks could pick out a bird'seye Maple just by looking at it. Jim S