Written upon every piece of wood is the story of a tree. A board’s surface appearance, otherwise known as its figure, reveals a coming-of-age narrative — annual droughts, insect infestations and other hardships are all recorded in the grain. Luckily, trees have a hard time growing up, providing us wood-lovers with many forms of beautiful figuring.
Ironically, today we seem to value imperfection in wood over all else. We are pleased when the wooden tables and bowls we buy show signs of life — variations in figure (coloring, luster, texture and grain pattern) are now admired as the character traits of a natural material. Authenticity is hard to find in a world full of identical Walmart dining sets, but in figured wood we can enjoy nature in all its randomness. To help you figure out your favorite figuring, I've selected five of my own.
• Bird’s eye – Found primarily in sugar maple, dendrologists (tree scientists) are unsure what causes this beautiful and rare swirling pattern
• Burl – Resembling large tumors, burls are a deformity caused by infestations or physical damage to a tree’s limbs or trunk. With very little straight grain, it is a difficult wood to work, but the stunning aesthetic makes it popular in woodturning and veneering
• Curl – Curly wood is believed to be caused by windy conditions. The resulting wave-like patterns are highly sought after by woodworkers. Curl is also referred to as fiddleback for its traditional use in making instruments
• Ghosting – Ghost figure is the result of insects burrowing into a tree — once inside, they leave thin spectral streaks. The Ambrosia beetle is the most common culprit in these tree hauntings
• Spalting – Spalting occurs when a dead tree is slowly attacked by fungi. The resulting rot resembles lines of black ink
(Images: 1 Flickr member Robbie1 licensed for use under Creative Commons, 2 Pioneer Wood, 3 Trees for Life, 4 Accent Custom Furniture, 5 Wethersfield Woodcraft, 6 Hobbit House Inc)
Johnny is currently blogging his experience as a student and amateur woodworker. You can keep track of his projects on his blog, Woodlearner.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I love this column! I don't know much about wood, although I'm the granddaughter of a master woodworker and like to think that I'm somehow cosmically connected to it. I have done a bit of screenprinting on wood veneer and am always eager to find out more about different woods to print on. That last photo is definitely something I'd love to use; can you suggest a source?
view visualingual's profile
Ghosting and Spalting look really awesome.
I think we have a walnut slab from Brimfield (waiting to be turned into some of table) that has spalting...
Is it?
http://donkeehouse.com/?p=1078
also, does it mean that the slab is STILL being attacked by fungi????
view bitdot's profile
another great column on wood that gives me something to think about & chew on!! it's interesting how in trees beauty is created out of fungi infestation, disease, malformation, ravages of nature, etc. all of which if associated with the human body would be considered anything but aesthetically pleasing!
view timmy jr.'s profile
Love this post! It's a bit more "meaty" and informative than the usual. These beautiful figured woods weren't always considered pretty. Case in point: A friend of my parents bought a circa-1910 house in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which is one of the few places where bird's-eye maple is found. He tore out layers of linoleum and vinyl flooring to discover that the entire house had been floored in bird's-eye maple. At that time it was considered junk wood and therefore was a cheap option for flooring.
Here's a U.P. store that sells bird's-eye maple goods:
http://www.birdseye-connection.com/
http://inspiredroomdesign.com
view farmhousemoderne's profile
@ bitdot,
what you have there doesn't look like spalting, just a pattern created by sanding down the uneven layers of the tree's bark on the outer edge of your slab.
Spalting tends to travel deeper into the wood, in more fine, consistent lines and more random patterns.
In regards to the life of the fungus, once the tree is sawn the fungus dies (the wood becomes too dry) so, you don't have to worry about the fungus spreading or attacking other wood in your home.
view kennjamin's profile
I'm in love with the main image, Robbies rotten log ~ looks like a watercolor/ink effect. Ghosting and spalting...wow. Thanks for this info.
view muirwoods08's profile
as always, a wonderfully informative post. thanks!
view cbauch's profile
kennjamin - thanks so much!
view bitdot's profile