# Curly Maple Tree



## RCR 3 EVER (Sep 28, 2008)

We have several Curly maples on our property at cabin and one of them appears to have numerous dead limbs at the top and dying? 

Should this tree go for veneer or my future fireplace mantle? 

The market is most likely down for harvesting so would it be more profitable for us to drop it and contact the sawmill down the street or how do we sell the tree?
At this time I do not have the dimensions but 10+ years ago we had an offer for the tree.


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## Nailsbeats (Sep 28, 2008)

I will go with fireplace mantle, that would be nice.


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## idahohay (Oct 14, 2008)

You might contact a guitar or violin maker. These guys will pay the most for figured maple. Just a thought if you haven't already taken cre of it.


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## RCR 3 EVER (Oct 14, 2008)

Hve not cut the tree down yet and thanks for the suggestions so far. The tree is 99% dead so we plan to cut it down in Spring but we need to get a buyer and I do want to use some of the wood for a mantel.


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## neil_004 (Oct 15, 2008)

I was under the impression that you could not tell if they are curly untill you cut them down. Is that not the case? If so can you post a pic of what they look like from the outside?


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## woodbooga (Oct 15, 2008)

idahohay said:


> You might contact a guitar or violin maker. These guys will pay the most for figured maple. Just a thought if you haven't already taken cre of it.



Good thought, but if the tree is 90+% dead, might not be suitable for this purpose. From what I hear, the most desirable spruce used in guitarmaking is getting scarce.

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/ToneWoods/tonewoods1.html


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## deeker (Oct 15, 2008)

From the sawmiller aspect of it. The end use of the wood makes a big difference in how it is cut. Then there is the hidden surprised I have found in logs that change the entire picture and use of it. Such as bark en-casements. Tramp metal and my actual favorite, the quirky grains that some logs have.

A thin veneer is nice as is a mantle. I can cut the mantles and then veneer them later if the grain or customer decides that way. 

I cut up a large doug fir earlier this month from a blow down. It was green and healthy when standing the three or four days before. Surprise!!!!!!!!! Cut out 2x10s and they all cracked around an upper branch the entire length of the the boards. Sixteen footers to boot. Not happy.

Always a surprise.

Kevin Davis


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## RCR 3 EVER (Oct 17, 2008)

neil_004 said:


> I was under the impression that you could not tell if they are curly untill you cut them down. Is that not the case? If so can you post a pic of what they look like from the outside?



I will try to get a picture when I am Up North next time In November. THe county agent and local cutter both said we had definetly 2 Curly Maples and possibly more and suggested veneer at the time.


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## pinemartin (Oct 18, 2008)

RCR I just happen to have some pictures of a curly maple


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## RCR 3 EVER (Oct 27, 2008)

YEP, That is exactly what the trees look like


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## IgnatiusJReilly (Oct 29, 2008)

I think it's bird's eye maple that you can't tell until you cut into it.


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## ran3465 (Nov 7, 2008)

Curly maple is not a species of maple. It is a figuring perpendicular to the grain of the wood. You cannot tell if the tree is curly until it is cut. Curl can be found in serveral different kinds of wood. Im not sure what causes it. I also know it is rare for a tree to be completly curly, meaning that only a small percentage of the wood will actually have curl in it.


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## buzz sawyer (Nov 7, 2008)

ran3465 said:


> Curly maple is not a species of maple. It is a figuring perpendicular to the grain of the wood. You cannot tell if the tree is curly until it is cut. Curl can be found in serveral different kinds of wood. Im not sure what causes it. I also know it is rare for a tree to be completly curly, meaning that only a small percentage of the wood will actually have curl in it.



I've see tree bases where the curly grain was evident before it was cut. I always thought it was confined to small areas and was from stress during growth. There doesn't appear to be any stress on the trees in the photo but from the appearance of the bark, there is some real interesting grain. I thought true curly maple was sugar maple and the grain was a genetic variation that caused the curl to exist in all parts of the tree - hence the high volume of curly grained wood. Just my 2 cents worth.


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## slabmaster (Nov 9, 2008)

Any maple can have curl in it.My understanding is that it is a genetic defect found in a small % of trees.I cut and milled a silver maple last fall that had nice curl from top to bottom.The very bottom of the trunk had the best with some quilt.I've also seen nice flame in red maple,but sugar maple is mainly what produces birdseye.


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## Backwood (Nov 9, 2008)

IgnatiusJReilly said:


> I think it's bird's eye maple that you can't tell until you cut into it.



Years back when I was clearing my land for my house the guy running the backhoe looked at a maple I had and said thats a nice birdseye you got there. At the time I also thought you had to open the log to find out but when I got close to the tree it was unmistakably birdseye. I sawed it and was very heavily figured with birdeyes throughout  . I think most trees you would still have to open to find out but if you can look at the outside of the tree and see birdseye figure its probably extra good.


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## slabmaster (Nov 9, 2008)

Usually what is on the outside ,is on the inside as well.The bark can tell you alot if you learn how to read it.


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## Ramblewood (Mar 26, 2010)

Years ago, my family made piano actions and keyboards from hard maple . My great grandfather bought a sawmill and lots of timberland on an island in UP Mich . A bunch of the timber turned out to be birdseye which could not be used to make the small turnings in the actions so it was tossed or burned . It is hard to work in a factory so there was no big market for it beyond small craftsmen . We stopped milling in the 30's after the last in a series of fires and my grandfather eventually sold the land to the state of Mich . They now make a lot of money selling the birdseye as the trees all grow back to birdseye when they regenerate . He kept the mineral rights which are worth a big mac and fries . Nice going grandpa ! I could be sitting on my porch watching the money trees grow dollars instead of building character working in sawmills and lumberyards ! Who knew !


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## Acer Saccharum1 (Apr 30, 2013)

*cut it*

Next time you have a tree of that caliber it is best to cut it down. Size has nothing to do with the price you're going to get ou tof it. It is all in the quality. Remember cut the tree 12 ft, and make sure it is at least 12 in. on the scaling end. My dad and grandpa have been the biggest buyers of birdseye and curly maple in the northern wi and mi area for the past 40 years, if you ever run into a tree like this again message me. 

On another note, the guitar makers have no idea how much that wood is worth, it is up to an experienced buyer to determine the price of the wood. If the guitar makers want the wood bad enough they will pay whatever for it from a creditable buyer.


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## hammerlogging (Apr 30, 2013)

Acer Saccharum1 said:


> Next time you have a tree of that caliber it is best to cut it down. Size has nothing to do with the price you're going to get ou tof it. It is all in the quality. Remember cut the tree 12 ft, and make sure it is at least 12 in. on the scaling end. My dad and grandpa have been the biggest buyers of birdseye and curly maple in the northern wi and mi area for the past 40 years, if you ever run into a tree like this again message me.
> 
> On another note, the guitar makers have no idea how much that wood is worth, it is up to an experienced buyer to determine the price of the wood. If the guitar makers want the wood bad enough they will pay whatever for it from a creditable buyer.



god forbid they get rid of the middleman.


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## 1270d (Apr 30, 2013)

Acer Saccharum1 said:


> Next time you have a tree of that caliber it is best to cut it down. Size has nothing to do with the price you're going to get ou tof it. It is all in the quality. Remember cut the tree 12 ft, and make sure it is at least 12 in. on the scaling end. My dad and grandpa have been the biggest buyers of birdseye and curly maple in the northern wi and mi area for the past 40 years, if you ever run into a tree like this again message me.
> 
> On another note, the guitar makers have no idea how much that wood is worth, it is up to an experienced buyer to determine the price of the wood. If the guitar makers want the wood bad enough they will pay whatever for it from a creditable buyer.



My father used to sell birdseye to a guy named fritz or Frans or something along those lines. H
Said he was a German, maybe it was a nickname. Was it your company maybe?


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## SeMoTony (Aug 25, 2017)

slabmaster said:


> Any maple can have curl in it.My understanding is that it is a genetic defect found in a small % of trees.I cut and milled a silver maple last fall that had nice curl from top to bottom.The very bottom of the trunk had the best with some quilt.I've also seen nice flame in red maple,but sugar maple is mainly what produces birdseye.



No idea what to look for on the outside to get that there was this curly aspect on the inside
Stay safe today and on


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## 1270d (Aug 25, 2017)

SeMoTony said:


> View attachment 598288
> No idea what to look for on the outside to get that there was this curly aspect on the inside
> Stay safe today and on



We cut quite a bit of Birdseye and curl. I haven't noticed or been shown any solid way to identify that a tree has good curl without taking off some bark. Birdseye on the other hand has a few outside indicators but sometimes when you get some bark off you see it and there wasn't any showing in the bark, no pinched butt or anything.


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