136 – Curly Figure

Curly Figure in Woods

This week I dive into curly figure in wood. Curl encompasses a lot of different types like quilt, pommele, beeswing, fiddleback, etc. I look at what causes it and how to grade it.

Spoiler alert, the causes of figure are still not understood totally.  Some work to identify the genes that cause figure have been identified but applying that knowledge has not been successful as a way to "create" figured logs.  

Grading figured woods has some structure when it comes to plywood veneers but the top grade (AA) there pales in comparison to the super figured materials sourced for luthiers.  So anecdotal grades like AAAA and "private stock" or "master stock" are just names that dealers use to describe phenomenal, unique instances of figure in small sample sizes.  

Check Out Kimball Hardwoods' Video on Grades