# Spotting curly wood



## NeoTree (Feb 24, 2010)

Sorry hope this is the right section for this thread, my uncle runs a shop where he makes gun stocks and blanks, he primarily deals in curly maple, and cherry from PA, he was telling me millers can spot curly maple just by looking at the bark. I've split a couple maples last year i suspected of having some curl, it seems a shame to burn curly wood.


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## NeoTree (Feb 24, 2010)

i realized i did'nt quite pose a question, so how do you really spot curly maple, without milling it up?


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## gemniii (Feb 24, 2010)

You can always just make 1 or 2 slabs, and if it's not curly it's firewood.


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## pinemartin (Feb 24, 2010)

It looks like this on the outside.


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## NeoTree (Feb 25, 2010)

are they all that obvious, or the shaggier the bark the curlier? it almost looks tropical


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## huskyhank (Feb 25, 2010)

Until you show pictures of the inside of that particular tree I'm not buying it. I just cut one that looked all twisty on the outside and the inside was white bread.


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## NeoTree (Feb 25, 2010)

i just threw this peice of maple in the wood burner, it pretty rough cut and busted up from the splitter but looks to have some curl, i must of noodled this peice somwhat, the outside looks pretty normal


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## huskyhank (Feb 25, 2010)

Shame to burn that one!!!!

I think if you can predict figure looking at a log you can make some money at it.


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## NeoTree (Feb 25, 2010)

huskyhank said:


> Shame to burn that one!!!!



i know, i'm gonna pay closer attention next time before making firewood rounds.

Is there a particular way this has to be milled to show up, like quarter sawn?


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## huskyhank (Feb 25, 2010)

NeoTree said:


> i know, i'm gonna pay closer attention next time before making firewood rounds.
> 
> Is there a particular way this has to be milled to show up, like quarter sawn?



I'd cut it in half (right through the pith) to see inside then figure the next cuts.
I'm no expert but that's what I'd do.


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## lumberjackchef (Feb 25, 2010)

NeoTree said:


> i realized i did'nt quite pose a question, so how do you really spot curly maple, without milling it up?




Here this may help,http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Recognizing_Curly_Wood.html

read down in the middle when somone refers to "compression curl" and look at the walnut stump pictured.


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## Andrew96 (Feb 26, 2010)

Other than crotch wood...I always pick one to open up and look at based on it's location. If it's been fighting the wind for years (hilltops...fence line on big field), it would be good to open first to see before cutting it for firewood. Fighting wind.. there is a good chance it's going to have some curly in it.


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## aquan8tor (Mar 3, 2010)

Just because a tree has compression curl indicators on the bark doesn't mean that the bole of the tree will show figure at all. Sometimes there's curl in the bark and sometimes not. I've seen a standing dead sugar maple in the WV mountains that showed absolutely no edvidence on the bark or even under it, but where it had been broken off in a storm, you could see that it was as curly as you could find throughout the entire bole of the tree. The bark was easy to peel back, and really showed no evidence of curl.  Sometimes its the other way around. Go figure....


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## pinemartin (Mar 3, 2010)

Here is a small piece from the tree pictured earlier for all the naysayers. This chunk is going to another member here to make pistol grips, this is also rough cut so the pictures are not that great.


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## huskyhank (Mar 3, 2010)

Well, ya got me.
Did the whole log look like that?


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## pinemartin (Mar 3, 2010)

Most of it looked like that with the exception of a 6" heart that was normal for about 8 foot up. The tree was 27" across so the 6" isn't a big loss.


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## huskyhank (Mar 3, 2010)

That is a heck of a nice piece of wood!


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## super3 (Mar 3, 2010)

pinemartin said:


> Here is a small piece from the tree pictured earlier for all the naysayers. This chunk is going to another member here to make pistol grips, this is also rough cut so the pictures are not that great.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## pinemartin (Mar 3, 2010)

More pics of the almost cut to size blocks.... The only problem is I cut the blanks too small  so these will go in the garbage. unless some one needs some curly maple blocks 5/8 x 1 3/4 x 6" for knife handles or ???


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## jdrum (Mar 3, 2010)

check in to some of the blacksmithing forums and show that in the bladesmith sec. some of those guys are realy into purdy wood like that. be a shame to waste it.

jim


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## huskyhank (Mar 3, 2010)

Mind boggling!

There's someone who can use it at that size.
Lordy that is beautiful!


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## aquan8tor (Mar 4, 2010)

pinemartin said:


> Here is a small piece from the tree pictured earlier for all the naysayers. This chunk is going to another member here to make pistol grips, this is also rough cut so the pictures are not that great.




WOW!!!! Holy cow man!! I didn't mean to sound like I was downplaying your log; just that in some cases it isn't there. Yours sure is!! So, any chance you'd like to do some trading for turning blanks??


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## gemniii (Mar 4, 2010)

Those are beautiful.
Why not make chainsaw starter pull handles?


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## Backwood (Mar 5, 2010)

That is some awesome maple for sure, but its not what I would call curly maple.


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## Hddnis (Mar 5, 2010)

Guys that are into pen turning might want those blocks. They'll cut them down even smaller and turn pens out of them.




Mr. HE


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## Oldtimer (Mar 5, 2010)

Knock the bark off, if it's curly it will be obvious. Raised "rings". The closer and denser ("Tight") the curl, the more valuable it is. If it's a good one, you will see the curl through the bark.
I burn curly soft maple all the time. It isn't "tight" enough to bother with.

That stuff in the pics above isn't curly. It's "burled" for lack of a better term.

Here's a good link to a pictoral of different types of curly wood.

http://www.jordanmusic.com/wood.htm


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## pinemartin (Mar 5, 2010)

Oldtimer said:


> Knock the bark off, if it's curly it will be obvious. Raised "rings". The closer and denser ("Tight") the curl, the more valuable it is. If it's a good one, you will see the curl through the bark.
> I burn curly soft maple all the time. It isn't "tight" enough to bother with.
> 
> That stuff in the pics above isn't curly. It's "burled" for lack of a better term.
> ...



This is the biggest "BURL" I have ever seen then.


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## BobL (Mar 5, 2010)

I somehow missed this thread. That is real amazing wood! Pen turners will go nuts for that stuff, they'd even pay good money for it. Stick it on epay and see what happens.


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## super3 (Mar 6, 2010)

Question about curing.

What is the best way to cure these pieces so they won't crack when drying?


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## NeoTree (Mar 6, 2010)

Ya all my peices i saved from the wood pile are cracked, I can't bring myself to burn them though. I would like to find a way to cure them too.


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## BobL (Mar 6, 2010)

super3 said:


> Question about curing.
> 
> What is the best way to cure these pieces so they won't crack when drying?



Coat all the surfaces with endgrain sealer should do it.


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## bobt (Mar 6, 2010)

I am curious if those small pieces could be "fast cured" in the microwave? Mind you, I am not advocating this practice, just wondering. I heard of a guy who did bowl turnings on green wood several years ago, and dried them that way without cracking, or so it was said.

By the way, that figured wood is certainly beautiful!


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## LAndrews (Mar 7, 2010)

Best clues I know of are a visibly wavy bark surface and the stuff is hella tough to split. Just cut one round off a log and try to split it - if it fights back, it's probably pretty curly. Of course, that's relative to a length of the same wood with straight grain. 

Seems like it's almost always a tree that's leaning... Be careful with the wood, because it likes to pinch blades.


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## NeoTree (Mar 11, 2010)

Well i did it again, I cut a nice cherry today, and behold i noodled the old stump and found it had nice curl to it. I had to cut it to rounds because if i did'nt there was a line of people who were waiting to get it. I'm gonna split one section open and see if theres anything i can do with it. Will people pay money for these peices, I don't have a mill so for the time being i can't do anything with them. I hear curly cherry is much more sought after than maple.
pictures soon.


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## Curlycherry1 (Mar 11, 2010)

Oldtimer said:


> Knock the bark off, if it's curly it will be obvious. Raised "rings". The closer and denser ("Tight") the curl, the more valuable it is. If it's a good one, you will see the curl through the bark.
> I burn curly soft maple all the time. It isn't "tight" enough to bother with.
> 
> That stuff in the pics above isn't curly. It's "burled" for lack of a better term.
> ...



Old Timer is 100% right, that maple in the picture is burled or more likely nothing at all. I have seen it too many times to count. But true well curled maple will show up under the bark. You can see it in this piece from my shop. This is heavy curled piece and you can see the undulations in the wood under the bark. The bark was smooth and gave no hint of the curl.






Curly cherry and curly walnut are a lot more valuable but they are hard to see. They rarely if ever show up in the bark. Cutting them open is the only way to find it. Curly walnut is one of my favorites. Here is a coffee table I made for my SIL.


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## NeoTree (Mar 12, 2010)

Thanks Curly, and beautiful work on the table, looks nice!


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## super3 (Apr 6, 2011)

NeoTree said:


> Well i did it again, I cut a nice cherry today, and behold i noodled the old stump and found it had nice curl to it. I had to cut it to rounds because if i did'nt there was a line of people who were waiting to get it. I'm gonna split one section open and see if theres anything i can do with it. Will people pay money for these peices, I don't have a mill so for the time being i can't do anything with them. I hear curly cherry is much more sought after than maple.
> pictures soon.



Hey what happened to the pics of the cherry? Did I miss it in another thread?

Update on the pieces pinemartin sent me:

I took a local sawmills advice on the drying. He suggested letting them dry for 9-12mo. I clamped them in between 2 bricks with 1/2" strips in between and plenty of room for air on the sides. Just put wax on the ends. It has been a year now and only 2 out of the 14 pieces cracked. I'm tickled :censored:less!

More to come when I get them worked up for the grips.


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## curlybirtch (Apr 8, 2011)

*Curly Maple*

Here is some curly maple that I am using to build a bed out of, pictured is one of the posts.View attachment 179203
View attachment 179204


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## super3 (Jun 7, 2017)

Wow! Old thread. I didn't think it had been this long since I dried them beautiful pieces @pinemartin sent me.

Pics were lost in the hack, but I saved them.
These are the original pics,


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## super3 (Jun 7, 2017)

Those were the ones that were cut too narrow for what I was wanting them for.
Man, aint they purdy?

He offered to send them to me for nothing. 

He later sent some a bit bigger and I finally got around to finishing them.They aren't quite as wild looking as the first ones.

First coat of tung oil.


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## rarefish383 (Jun 10, 2017)

When I saw how old the thread was I quite reading. Are those Colt grips,? Joe.


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## rarefish383 (Jun 10, 2017)

I've got a matching stock and forearm for a Model 99 Savage 22 HiPower that's been air drying for about 5 years now. I cut one end off another one of the same boards, and an hour after I cut it, it split, Joe.


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## super3 (Jun 11, 2017)

They are for a Coonan 357 Joe.

Beautiful figure in the Walnut, sucks on the split though.


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## rarefish383 (Jun 12, 2017)

Thanks, I've got plenty of it. I actually have a Walnut stump that was next to a stream and fell over through a cattle pasture. The cows licked it so clean it's almost shiny and smooth as silk. I'm hoping there is good figure in the roots, they are big enough for a stock. I'll post pics if I ever get around to opening it up. I forget if I ever asked, do you have a super 3. I started to buy a Rutus 7 years ago. I thought it was cool, had an aluminium 215 V8 in it, Joe.


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## super3 (Jun 12, 2017)

Don't know if I know what one is.

Mine is just short for the Supermodified, #3 in my avatar. My Dad built it in the early 60's.

I restored it and ran it with a local vintage club for several yrs.


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## rarefish383 (Jun 12, 2017)

The Rotus 7 is a knock off on the Lotus 7. It was built here in MD. They had mostly Toyota drive trains in them, and the owner named them Rotus cracking on the Japanese not pronouncing there L's. He made a number of them with the GM 215 V8 that , I think, Rover bought out. They were incredibly fast up to about 120, then the clamshell front fenders would start to pick the front end up. I've seen a couple of the Rotus cars sell on Ebay over the past couple years. Think one went for about $30,000 and another for about $15,000. Do a Google search, there's a bit of info on them, Joe.


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