On 20 May 2005 13:56:48 -0700, "SonomaProducts.com"
wrote:

I've always wondered if the figuring can be attributed to any specifc
condition of the tree. I always though maybe some burl like growth
might signal quilting or a very wind blown/bent tree might have some
tigerring. Let us know if you "figure" anything out.

I was roughing out a birch blank on the lathe tonight after work, and
noted that there was a pretty good tiger figure beneith the crotch
where a good sided branch had been. It appeared to me like the weight
of the branch had somehow compressed the grain underneith, and caused
the pattern by buckling the fibers slightly. I don't know if that was
the case, but it was something to wonder about anyhow!

One nice aspect about Maple is that the figure tends to be deep within
each board so you should be able to find it pretty easily. I know with
QS White Oak you can plane a 1/4" off and lose all the figure. I've
resawn nice looking boards only to find no figure in the middle.

The only one that doesn't seem to go all that deep in maple is bird's
eye. I found that out the hard way when I made a lamp out of some,
and ended up with regular old maple where a lot of excellent figure
used to be. Curly figure usually seems to go all the way through.

I wonder if it matters the direction of the cut through the log. Maybe
you take a slice first and try splitting it in different directions
looking for a figure pattern. Sorta cut it like a pizza.

I imagine it would- look at the difference between flat-sawn and
quarter-sawn. I don't believe I've ever seen flecks in flat-sawn oak.