What is wood figure?

Figure is:

the form of the grain and colour

patterns,

formed naturally in

wood,

that give it a unique

appearance.

Figure

• Figure may be defined as the pattern produced on a wood surface by annual growth layers, rays, and knots; by irregular coloration; and by deviations from straight, regular grain. Three broad types of figure in wood are recognized.

(1) Normal figure

(2) Pigment figure

(3) Specific figure,

Normal figure• which results from textural variation, depends

largely on the plane of cutting.

• Tangential cutting usually results in nested V's or U's when the wood has visible growth layers.

• Radial cuts reveal growth layers in relatively straight, vertical lines. All gradations between tangential and radial surfaces occur.

• Knots mayor may not be present.

• Wood with no more than normal figure paradoxically is called unfigured in the lumber and veneer trade.

Pigment figure

• Which results from infiltration of coloring materials in regular or irregular patterns.

• May be local or generalized and is influenced occasionally by the plane of cutting.

Specific figure

• Which results from non-vertical alignment of longitudinal fibers.

• May be hidden or enhanced by cutting methods.

• Specific Figure in Wood

• Specific figure in wood can be divided into three categories based upon the type of growth within trees that initiates the figure:

(1)Figure related to spiral growth;

(2) Figure related to undulating growth; and

(3) Figure related to indented growth rings.

How does it arise?• Uneven coloration resulting from pigmentation in

wood.

• Variations in Grain Orientation.

And also it may be enhanced by specialized cutting techniques.

Cutting patterns of wood

• Oblique

• Tangential

• Radial

Tangential and Radial

Oblique

Cause of figure in woodNormally variations in the xylem elements of the wood

causes for wood figures.• Longitudinal parenchyma

• Rays

Silver grain - ray flecks, slightly oblique

to vertical axis (radial) C

Flake - numerous short ray flecks (radial)

Ripple marks - storied cambium

(tangential)

• Deviation of longitudinal axis of cells from vertical axis.

Crotch - major branches (radial)

Ribbon or stripe - interlocking grain (radial)

Fiddleback - wavy grain (radial), regular changes in direction of

grain in the tangential direction

Roe - combination of interlocked grain and wavy grain

Birds eye - numerous, small indentations in the growth

rings (tangential)

Quilt - indentations in cambium somewhat elongated

transversely (tangential)

Blister - local irregularity in the growth rings (tangential)

Burls - irregular swellings of trunk caused by

adventitious buds

Causes of figure in wood occur & how it is revealed.

Figure may be defined as the pattern produced on a wood surface by annual growth layers, rays,grain,and knots.

GRAIN

Grain is the alternating regions of relatively darker and lighter wood resulting from the differing growth parameters occurring in different seasons.

Grain Direction: A tree species can grow in a number of grain directions.

What is grain?

Grain is the alternating regions of relatively darker and lighter wood resulting from the differing growth parameters occurring in

different seasons (i.e., growth rings)

1. Straight: Grain which runs in a single direction, parallel to the axis of the tree.

2. Spiral: grain which spirals around the axis of the tree.

3. Irregular: This is a more ambiguous catch-all term that describes wood grain that swirls or twists in an abnormal way. Irregular grain can be due to a number of factors, such as knots, burls, large branches separating from the trunk.

Straight grain Spiral grain

Irregular grain

Knot

A knot is a particular type of imperfection in a piece of wood; it will affect the

technical properties of the wood, usually for the worse, but may be exploited for

visual effect.

knot A knot is a particular type of imperfection in a piece of

wood. In the tree a knot is either the base of a side branch or a

dormant bud. A knot (when the base of a side branch) is conical in

shape (hence the roughly circular cross-section) with the inner tip at the point in stem diameter at which the plant's vascular cambium was located when the branch formed as a bud.

dead branches produce knots which are not attached, and likely to drop out after the tree has been sawn into boards.

knots are classified according to their form, size, soundness, and the firmness with which they are held in place.

There are two types of knots

1. Dead knots.

2. Live knots.

Dead knots Live knots

Live knot.

Right angle

Dead knot.

Right angle

Differences between dead knot and live knot

Live knot is a knot whose fibers are largely inter grown with those of the

surrounding xylem whereas a dead knot is a knot whose fibers are only partially

inter grown with those of the surrounding wood.

What is texture?

In the most basic terms, the wood texture describes how a wood feels. Given an equal

amount of sanding and smoothing operations, different woods will feel smoother than others.

Coarse texture- soft and rough.

Fine texture- very smooth and glassy.

Soft wood & Hard wood

HardwoodHardwoods are angiosperms.

Have many vessels & many fibers.

Hardwood structure is more

complex than softwoods.

SoftwoodNo vessels & few tubes.

Cellular structure is simple & 90% percent

of the cells are longitudinal tracheids.

softwoods surface is soft and light.

Ex- Pines,Cycus & hemlocks.

Places where

different figure

patterns can be

gained in plants

Different types of wood figures

Ambrosia Bird's Eye Burl Curly

Quilted Crotch Swirl Spalt

1. Angel Step 7. Crotch

2. Ambrosia 8. Curl

3. Burl 9. Fiddle back

4. Bird’s Eye 10. Flame

5. Bear Stretches 11. Dimple

6. Blister 12. Spalt

TYPES OF WOOD FIGURES

•Cutting across stump and butt sections of trees (trees that have twisted trunks) produces a

staircase-like, somewhat curly figure, that is commonly called “Angel step".

•This occurs most frequently in walnut & maple. •

Angel step wood figure

Here is a pic of (1) angel step maple, (2) angel step walnut, and (3) angel step maple:

• The Ambrosia figure has a tapered, oblong shape running with the grain, and usually grayish color.

• The figure pattern can be mild or dense, depending on the degree of infestation.

Ambrosia figure wood

Burl wood figure

• Burl is a mutated growth that will

sometimes happen on a tree. Instead of

normal growth a burl can form on the side

of the tree trunk or underground where the

trunk meets the roots.

• Curly Burl Figure – Redwood , Pin Burl Figure - Maple

Bird's eye figure wood.

Bird's-eye is the name for a figure pattern most often associated with hard maple (acer saccharum).

The logs are most often rotary cut or half-round sliced (in an arc) to produce the most uniform distribution of nice round eyes, distinctive pattern that resembles tiny, swirling eyes disrupting the smooth lines of grain. It is somewhat reminiscent of a burl

Eg- red maple, white ash, Cuban mahogany, American beech, black walnut, and yellow birch.

Bear Stretchesfigure wood patterns

Blister figure wood.

Produced by an uneven contour of the annual rings.

The effect of being blistered.

Must be cut rotary or half-round.

It is commonly found in makoreand anigre.

Blister figure wood patterns.

Crotch wood figure

•Occurs in places were the tree starts branching.

•Has the pattern of a folded paper.

CURL FIGUE WOODIt is also referred to as tiger stripe and ripple.

Curl is compression grain perpendicularly crossing the face of a board producing alternate stripes of hard and soft board fibre.

This phenomenon creates a Variation in strength

depending on the degree of

Eg- maples, walnut, ash, oaks and even ebony.

Flame wood figure

•Flame Like patterns Can be observed.

Dimple wood figure

•The pattern has Dimple like structures

FIDDLE BACK FIGUE WOOD•Fiddleback is clearly visible and regular streaks running across the grain.

•The more regular the streaks, the more valuable the veneer.

•Produce nearly perpendicular patterns running from edge to edge.

Spalted Figure wood

•Splatting is a figure pattern caused by fungus growing in trees and logs.

•It produces black streaks usually growing with the grain and can result in a beautiful marbling.•The fungus enters the tree through an injury and starts to spread.

•The trick is to get dense splatting before the lumber turns to punk.

•It is not uncommon to find a log with splatting penetrating the end grain for a short distance but this can be little more than a distraction.

• Figured wood has been esteemed for its beauty and universal appeal for centuries. Certain types of figured wood are primary materials for numerous small but important industries throughout the world.

• To use as decorator Materials

• To use in Furniture and in flooring tiles.

• Used to make car dash boards, furniture drawer fronts and tops, and gunstocks. Contemporary uses include table and counter tops, sculpture, and electric guitar tops.

Uses of Figure in wood