The Mysterious Flame Maple by:Paul Evans

Flame maple, (also known as Flamed Maple, Curly Maple

, Fiddleback Maple or Tigerstripe), is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating pattern, producing wavy lines known as "flames". This effect is often mistakenly said to be part of the grain of the wood; it is more accurately called "figure", as the distortion is perpendicular to the grain direction. Prized for its beautiful appearance, it is used frequently in the manufacturing of musical instruments, such as violins, and fine furniture.

Another well-known use of the material is its use in guitars, especially the venerated Gibson Les Paul and the Gibson J-200. The Gibson Les Paul "Standard", initially manufactured from 1958 to 1960, sported a flame maple top finished in a cherry-red sunburst on a mahogany body. Today, these instruments are some of the most prized on the vintage guitar market, and as such are unaffordable to most musicians.

During the westward expansion of early settlers and explorers into the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, flame maple was often used for making the stocks used on Kentucky rifles.

In the United States, most use the terms Fiddleback Maple and Curly Maple synonymously. Fiddleback Maple boasts a three-dimensional series of alternately bright and dark stripes that shade into one another as the wood is slightly moved, thus producing an illusion of actual waves. Changes in brightness result from differential light reflection. Relatively high absorption by exposed fiber ends produces dark bands; reflection and diffraction from fiber walls cause bright bands. Because the fiber walls are curved sharply and act as concave or convex reflecting surfaces, any change in angle of view or incident light makes the apparent waves seem to shift. Again, the same light stripe becomes a dark stripe and vice-versa.

The illusion of undulations results from regular and repeated, parallel, wavy lines that produce an interference pattern on the exposed plane. Modern botany and science still cannot adequately account for what exactly causes the visually-stunning figuring in Flame Maple (also known as Fiddleback Maple, Curly Maple, Tiger Maple, Tigerstripe Maple). In conclusion, then, the cause(s) of the rare figuring seen in Fiddleback Maple is yet unknown. The mystery of Fiddleback Maple, in spite of electron microscopes and huge advances in the fields of wood technology, plant genetics, etc., for now remains unrevealed.

While the precise cause of the mystery of Flame Maple must remain, at present, unknown, the result is well-known, greatly esteemed, and eagerly sought by wood aficionados as Flame Maple- one of the world's most transfixing beautiful exotic hardwoods.

Come and see our Fiddleback Maple collection at http://www.jewelryboxesforyou.com/fiddle-back-maple-collection

About the author

Paul Evans, website owner, entrepreneur, avid golfer, jewelry enthusiast, huge Packers fan, lover of life.

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