How Do You Like Your Curly Maple?

D

Dennis Paish

Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
302
Greetings,

What is your preference regarding highly figured Curly Maple. Do you prefer it natural and / or dyed, please indicate color. Please post pictures, I would like to see some examples.

How many strips on a 1.5" wide by 5.5" long block of Maple would you have to consider it highly figured?

Is flame maple the same as curly maple?

Sorry guys, lots of maple questions.

Thanks,
Dennis
 
Like a washboard you could scrub clothes on.

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I like it the way Chuck Burrows of Wild Rose does his with the old fashioned vinegar and iron stain....it is super nice and historical too!:D:thumbup::thumbup::cool:
 
R.C.Reichert said:
I like it the way Chuck Burrows of Wild Rose does his with the old fashioned vinegar and iron stain....it is super nice and historical too!
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Actually I mostly use ferric nitrate (aka Aqua Fortis - iron dissolved in nitric acid - it's available pre-mixed), but vinegar and iron comes close to the same look - here's a couple examples only thing the stain is SO much better looking in person since it's tough to see the depth of the chatoyance......
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The finish on these is an historical heat polymerized linseed oil based violin varnish - a common finish on guns, knives, etc. during the 1700's and 1800's.

In over 40 years I've yet to find a combination os stain and finish that works better on maple.
 
Deep curl and striping. It depends on the grade of maple what you'll get..Aqua fortis on these..This first one if amazing in real life. Pics dont do it justice..
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I have some beautiful maple and want to try using Aqua Fortis Stain ... Where can I get some?

Thanks
 
When using maple for knife handles remember that by nature maple is a very unstable wood and needs to be professionally stabilized. Also, if you chose to dye it colors then some collectors won't be interested for the same
reason(s) that they won't buy dymondwood.

Gary
 
I have some great looking blistered maple (HARD) and some fantastic curly maple, can't figure how to post a picture for you guys to enjoy. I have also used the aqua fortis on maple. It is a great product
 
Dennis Paish said:
Do you use aqua fortis (I have no idea what this is - need to Google it!) before stabilizing?
Dennis
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Yes you must use Aqua Fortis first or any other color for that matter before stabilizing and with all due respect good Eastern hardrock sugar maple (be sure and ask for it specifically - use red as an alternative if need be) is one of the most stable woods around - the reason it's been used for gunstocks for over 250 years.
I've been handling up hawks and knives as well as building gins with sugar maple for over 40 years and have never had any stabilized - the same as our ancestors did and there are plenty of originals still extant.
 
I also have many hawks and knives out there with maple handles that are not stabilized. Never have had any problems going back about 20 years.
 
I honestly don't see the whole deal with stabilizing in general. I think it is artificial, plastic-like and very unnatural. Okay maybe if I were using a very porus wood or some kind of soft wood it should be stabilized, but I wouldn't use that wood on a knife anyways. Hardwoods such as maple have been used on knives and gunstocks for centuries. To say that it needs to be stabilized is almost an insult to traditional ways.
 
R.C.Reichert said:
I honestly don't see the whole deal with stabilizing in general. I think it is artificial, plastic-like and very unnatural. Okay maybe if I were using a very porus wood or some kind of soft wood it should be stabilized, but I wouldn't use that wood on a knife anyways. Hardwoods such as maple have been used on knives and gunstocks for centuries. To say that it needs to be stabilized is almost an insult to traditional ways.
Click to expand...

Buckeye is fantastically beautiful and almost as soft as balsa. Good example of how stabilization adds an extremely useful benefit.
 
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