How can you tell if a maple tree is Birdseye?
Instead of the regular vertical and more linear grain of maple, birdseye has a rounded, randomly swirling grain that is dotted with dark amber, brown or nearly black spots. These dark spots are small, randomly spaced and roughly the size of a bird’s eye, hence the name.
What does birdseye maple wood look like?
Bird’s eye is a type of figure that occurs within several kinds of wood, most notably in hard maple. It has a distinctive pattern that resembles tiny, swirling eyes disrupting the smooth lines of grain. It is somewhat reminiscent of a burl, but it is quite different: the small knots that make the burl are missing.
What is birdseye maple worth?
The average selling price of a bird’s-eye maple log is in the range of $20,000 to $30,000 per 1,000 board feet. To put this in perspective, one double bottom truck fully loaded with the highest quality maple bird’s-eye logs would be worth in excess of $700,000.
Why is it called birdseye maple?
Comments: Called birdseye maple (sometimes written out as bird’s eye) because the tiny knots in the grain resemble small bird’s eyes. The figure is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. Being tiny knots, the birdseye figure is most noticeable and pronounced on flatsawn pieces of lumber.
Is birdseye maple hard maple?
Birdseye maple, one of the rarest kinds of wood on the planet, has a distinctive pattern that looks like tiny, swirling eyes disrupting the smooth lines of grain. Birds-eye maple is a form of figured hard maple, it is not a variety or species of maple.
Where is birdseye maple found?
The highest incidence of figured bird’s-eye maple occurs in regions with severe winters and short growing seasons, including Maine, the eastern peninsula of Michigan, plus Canada and a few other areas. Sawyers in these regions tell me they find bird’s-eye figure most often on the north side of a dense woodlot.
Is birdseye maple Quartersawn?
Birds Eye Maple Wood Grain They are visible but obscured in the quartersawn direction. It’s similar to looking at the front of a coin as opposed to its edge. To maximize Birdseye figure, maple logs should be cut flatsawn or plainsawn.
What causes birdseye maple?
There has long been a discussion as to what causes the birds’-eye figure in maple. The accepted belief today is that it is caused by a stunted growth.
What is birdseye maple wood?
Birdseye Maple is a beautiful wood that occurs naturally in less than 1/10th of 1% of all Sugar Maple trees. Its name aptly describes the “eyes” that develop in the tree when it is young. These eyes continue to develop, getting generally larger, as the tree grows. Birdseye maple is like a natural saltwater pearl.
What is a bird eye?
Part of a series on. Graphical projection. A bird’s-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans, and maps. It can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawing.