Birdseye Maple price per bft

[HUSKYMAN]

On my BIL's property in the UP he sold some timber about four years ago, and he says he had some birds eye patterns in his sugar maple. Thinking back on the transaction he thinks he may not have gotten a fair price for the logs. He is going to have it logged again, maybe next year or the year after, and wants to be sure he knows ahead of time this time.

I know veneer prices are down but does anyone have any idea what a 8' 24" dia log may be worth, or what a ballpark rate per board foot would be for this rare wood? Would he need to find a special mill for it?

 

[sILlogger]

i'm not familiar with "bird's eye" maple..but is this something that can be determined in a standing tree, or does the log have to be opened up first?

 

[HUSKYMAN]

I have seen a few claims that it can be spotted in standing timber by the bark, but I think thats crap. Its not surprising that you have not encountered it, I understand it is most common in northern MI, MN, WI, and Ontario.

Its a particular spotting pattern in the wood.

 

[sILlogger]

I have seen a few claims that it can be spotted in standing timber by the bark, but I think thats crap. Its not surprising that you have not encountered it, I understand it is most common in northern MI, MN, WI, and Ontario.

Its a particular spotting pattern in the wood.

well if that is the case that could pose a problem....that means it would take a highly experienced person that is looking for birds' eye maple in order for your BIL to get top dollar for the timber.....i think your chasing a niche market..but that is just me. if there is enough of it it might be profitable to get a special buyer in there..or if it is valuable enough to separate just a few logs.

just something to think about

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Its just common enough in the UP that the mills know to keep an eye out for it and not mill it with the regular maple, but I agree getting top dollar may require a special buyer.

Thats what I am trying to figure out

 

[Fuzly]

How far up in the UP?

Prices are down, but birds' eye is still worth some money. I can't tell you how much, I honestly don't know.

Might want to try Cleereman Exports in Laona, Wisconsin. Should be able to get a number if you want to shoot me a PM. This would be one of the few "highly experienced, niche" type guys sIL mentioned.

I don't know how Tom does it, and he sure as heck ain't saying, but people claim he can look at a tree and tell if it's birds' eye without cutting it open.

 

[Zodiac45]

I've got a Bass guitar with a Birdeye maple neck. It's pretty stuff and I've come across some here and there but never without opening the log. Maybe there are people who can spot it but I tend to believe that's BS also Huskyman.
The other side of the coin though, is that if your BIL has some veneer grade logs in there, they are still worth some good money. Usually 2-3 times grade 1 sawlogs. But, and this is a big butt! They are relatively rare and there are strict charicteristics. They look for allot of things like +8 growth rings per inch, color, figure, etc..and too make it all worse the processors sometimes (usually) have their own standards based on how they process. Meaning it's usually the buyer in the field representing the processor that determines if a log makes the grade.
The general specs are Butt logs, fresh cut, round sound and straight,straight grained, free of knots, bark distortions, decay, seams worm holes, bird peck on each of the 4 faces. Centered heart, uniform color, uniformly spaced (and tight) rings, free of metal contamination. That's for starters!

PS: Heavy birdseye is the most valuable in maple and can go for up too $8+bf!

 

[Fuzly]

My Dad bought a large old home in town and made it into offices.

They restored the original floors. Probably close to 100 years old now. Back then they must have just mixed the bird's eye in with the other maple. The flooring is 50% plus birds eye. Just awesome to look at and see all the little patterns.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Thanks for the info guys. The property is in the Munising area. I didnt see the logs myself, so I cant say what the quality was. At least now we know what to look for next time.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

My Dad bought a large old home in town and made it into offices.

They restored the original floors. Probably close to 100 years old now. Back then they must have just mixed the bird's eye in with the other maple. The flooring is 50% plus birds eye. Just awesome to look at and see all the little patterns.

Yeah, back then birdseye was a PIA for woodworkers from what I have read. Standard tools for working maple would just skip and chew the birdseye, so often it was just cut into firewood. Once good cutting tools became more common it was more sought after.

 

[Billy_Bob]

...birdseye was a PIA for woodworkers from what I have read...

If you want to drive a nail into this very very very hard wood, best to drill a hole first!

 

[sawyerDave]

There is a way to find bird's eye maple, and there is an essay about it, I think published by usda or usfs, anyway it was 10-12 pages, doubtless cost us taxpayers millions in research $, boiled down to the gist or nub of the subject, if the tree is coke bottle shaped in the butt log, it is likely to have birds-eye grain in it. I think I downloaded the essay from the knowledge base over at woodweb.

 

[ray benson]

Ran across this
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/fpl_pdfs/rp_nc317.pdf

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I live in houghton and we don't sell our birdseye at a set cost. It is set aside at the yard and we have buyers come and look at the logs and bid on them separate from the sale, same goes with curley maple. Some birdseye isn't worth much just depends on the buyers intentions and how bad they want it.

 

[Gumnuts]

Good stuff Ray - visual characteristics that pdf goes into very applicable for trees in Australia - trees in general i guess.
The dark spots shown on the bark very applicable for our thicker bark varieties.
in general i found pdf very informative. Thank-you

- Graeme