Is there a difference between "curly" and "fiddleback"?

[Odie]

When describing that particular distinctive figure, I've always thought the terms "curly" and "fiddleback" were interchangeable.......but, I was never quite sure about that. ......and, how about the term "quilted"......how does that fit into the scheme of things?

Is there a difference?

What other terms have similar, or overlapping usage?





As an offshoot, I can guess how the term "fiddleback" originated.....but, is there a story there?

ooc

 

[robo hippy]

I consider it all to be figured, which covers just about everything. Some is reaction wood as in wood under stress, and some times it seems to be genetic. Kind of like Birds Eye. There is Birds Eye, and burl, and the named get used interchangeably.

 

[JerrySambrook]

Odie,
My limited experience in woodworking has pointed me in this directioni.
Curly maple is when there are stress "marks" in the grain, causing the grain to not be straight. This is due to waviness in the actualy growth structure
Fiddleback is curly maple, except that the curls are very close together, as in the waviness peaks and valleus in less than 1/2 inch.

Try splitting a pice of curly sometime, and you willnotoce it almost looks like a links type golfcourse with the rasing and lowering pattern, or better yet, a series of waves flowing toward a shore.

 

[Odie]

Up for discussion..........

Bowl 714 on the left was sold to me as "spalted maple", but I added that it had fiddleback figure. Bowl 837 on the right was sold to me as "curly maple".

These descriptions would seem to coincide with JerrySambrook's descriptions......yes?

As far as I can tell, it's more correct to distinguish the two, but there are times when one very closely resembles the other......so the use seems to be interchangeable.

How about "quilted"? Is this term pretty much the same as "curly", but less so with a distinct "fiddleback"?

ooc

 

[Charlie Knighton]

not to confuse the issue but, what about tiger maple?

 

[David Wilkins]

this is my understanding,
fiddleback is the compressed wood you find under a branch.
curly is a wavy grain throughout the trunk of a tree. Apparently it is more likely in an area where a tree will sway in the wind, but that sure is not an absolute. I think Tiger is generally used interchangably with curly.
Quilted/blistered maple is a growth deformity in the grain of the tree, very different than curl or burl, and beautiful

my 2 cents

Dave

 

[MichaelMouse]

Here's a piece on wood figure that does a good job explaining. http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/bulletins/figureinwood/index.html Might as well follow the lumbermen's definition. "Wavy grain frequently is called “curly†when waves can be measured in terms of numbers per foot and “fiddleback†when waves are measured in numbers per inch. " It's what the local cruisers use as a definition, without the explanation that "True fiddleback is restricted to uniform, straight-grained wood of high quality; curly woods frequently exhibit sloping grain and other defects" Gets the logs out of the woods as premium stuff, even when it isn't. One of the few places where the sawyer with his cheatin' stick doesn't have an automatic advantage.

The surface at 90 degrees to the curl produces the quilted figure.

I'm sure that regionalisms creep in, just as they do with common names, which is why people who haven't seen birdseye might call a burl's surface birdseye. Or maybe wood dealers who are a bit less than honest!

 

[George Guadiane]

Here's a piece on wood figure that does a good job explaining. http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/bulletins/figureinwood/index.html

Thank you for this link!!!
It is one of my favorite places to get information on figure. Auburn changed the format and moved the address.
I couldn't find it. I'll add it to my website so that others might find it more easily.

 

[Odie]

^^^^^ 😀 I like that! ^^^^^

Great new signature line, George!

ooc

 

[James E Gaydos]

I have heard stories that the fiddleback name came from those that made "Fiddles" AKA the Violin. This being an Old American term, possible from the Appalatchian Montains area. This curled wood made very good sound or tone woods. Don't know if it's a true one or not. One hears all sorts of stories at folk festivals, and from old woodworkers. I did work with a guy whose parents were antique dealers, and he learned from them how to tell the difference in the figures in Maple.
All I know is some are prettier than others.😉
Jim

 

[MichaelMouse]

I have heard stories that the fiddleback name came from those that made "Fiddles" AKA the Violin. This being an Old American term, possible from the Appalatchian Montains area. This curled wood made very good sound or tone woods. Don't know if it's a true one or not.

Sounds good, but it's a few miles and a few centuries off. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vielle

http://www.sprengerviolins.com/e/violin_history.htm

Sounds like something the Scots-Irish might have named, though.

 

[KellyDunn]

If you have ever seen a very old Violin aka Fiddle you will know where the term came from. Here I just use the term guitar or instrument grade curl. In Koa its the real tight curl. Mango only curls in wide shimmers.In Koa we would say stress or compression curl for the wide bands. Yet in Mango its straight grain. For us turners we can use the nastiest part of a crotch thats going to move like crazy but may have many varieties of curl all in the same piece. And as has been said instrument makers need very straight grained wood. I have talked to owners of very old(1700s) violins. They are more concerned with the sound of the instrument rather than how it looks. A number have said they have had to have it repaired as when they travel to a very dry climate it can actually open up in joint areas they say they can see through and sometimes comes apart. But you spend more than a million bucks on one of these it tends to get taken care of. But of the old ones I have seen the maker took the time to find great wood. Same with larger instruments.