Sugar Maple and Red Maple: and then the other kind!

[Eric Smith]

I have read at length about red maple and sugar maple and its qualities. But from time to time I hear of certain maple stocks being refered to as "fiddleback maple" and "Birdseye maple". I believe I understand the meaning of "tiger maple", refereing to a very high quality maple with a bery pronounced striped grain. Fiddleback and Birdseye terms leave me scratching my head.

[smallpatch]

Red and sugar maple are different species.  Generally, red has more vibrant, bolder figure, sugar is harder, more dense, and when highly figured, a little more subtle.
Fiddleback and tiger maple are just descriptions of that figure in either species. 
I've been told that birdseye is the ends of the figure.  In other words the board is cut the other direction and you're seeing the ends of the figure instead of the side.

That one, I'm not sure of.

This I know for sure..... I just finished the most difficult, beautifully figured stock in red maple.  From now on..... I'll use sugar maple.

[woodburner]

E. Smith, if you go to Bellforestproducts.com, you can look at individual pieces of maple species and grain.  The bird's eye maple that I have had
opportunity to see had spike like growth under the bark( like  chestnut
husk spikes).  The bird's eyes looked like the beginning of branches...what ever, it is rare.  I am not sure if this is associated with burl growth.  Looks
like tree hormone problems.  Tim

[Lucky R A]

Birds eye figure is a whole different cat than curly, fiddleback, tiger stripe, or any other name you give to vertical stripes across the longitudinal grain of maple, hard or soft.  It has nothing to do with how a flitch was sawn.  I have made a couple of long guns using Birds eye and was not thrilled with the end result.  If one uses a darker stain a lot of the figure disappears.  Birds eye is best relegated to guns that would look good finished natural or with a very light stain; it can also be used to accent period furniture.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

This is the only piece I've done using bird's eye maple.  The maple is Eastern sugar maple with bird's eye figure.  I stained it fairly light.  But I should never have used a good barrel in this one.  Between the owner and his son, the pistol is almost unbeatable.

[Dphariss]

I have read at length about red maple and sugar maple and its qualities. But from time to time I hear of certain maple stocks being refered to as "fiddleback maple" and "Birdseye maple". I believe I understand the meaning of "tiger maple", refereing to a very high quality maple with a bery pronounced striped grain. Fiddleback and Birdseye terms leave me scratching my head.

Birdseye has birdseye like features. Curly and fiddle back are essentially the same though there is variation on how the curl looks. Wide/flame/tight etc.
I will not knowingly use anything but hard maple.

Once you see birdseye you will understand. I have only seen one good piece and it was an percussion rifle, very usage and weather damaged but the birdseyes were very apparent. No curl or other figure at all that I recall. This was 40+ years ago.

Dan

[Kermit]

I thought maybe this was going to be about Western Bigleaf Maple, the one seldom talked about.

I have an otherwise pretty plain rifle in rift cut plain sugar maple, but used a piece of intense birdseye for the patchbox cover.