What to do with all this figured wood!?

[Bryan Hall]

Happy Holidays everyone!

I was at the lumber yard picking up sheet goods and just had to grab some of the heavily quilted maple that had shown up recently. I got home and went to put it away and realized... I buy too much figured wood! I'm just a sucker for it. I wish I could walk by and not pick it up but there's something "rare and special" about it to me and I always convince myself that buying another board or two will be useful. After several years of "just one more piece" I've now got several walls, floor to ceiling, of maple, walnut, sapele, and white oak, everything figured, just piling up. Perhaps an additional part of the issue is that I tend to think figure goes best in small projects, table tops are maybe the single exception but I don't need ten tables in my home.

So I've got to ask:

1. What are your favorite projects for figured wood?

2. Does figured wood burn well? JK ;-)

[Lee Schierer]

Figured wood is great for making boxes, jewelry boxes, desks, chairs, cabinets, dressers, etc. It's more a question of what can't be mage of figured wood.

[Rob Luter]

Happy Holidays everyone!

I was at the lumber yard picking up sheet goods and just had to grab some of the heavily quilted maple that had shown up recently. I got home and went to put it away and realized... I buy too much figured wood! I'm just a sucker for it. I wish I could walk by and not pick it up but there's something "rare and special" about it to me and I always convince myself that buying another board or two will be useful. After several years of "just one more piece" I've now got several walls, floor to ceiling, of maple, walnut, sapele, and white oak, everything figured, just piling up. Perhaps an additional part of the issue is that I tend to think figure goes best in small projects, table tops are maybe the single exception but I don't need ten tables in my home.

So I've got to ask:

1. What are your favorite projects for figured wood?

2. Does figured wood burn well? JK ;-)

Where is your lumberyard? All the yards around me have is crappy construction grade stuff. I do have one retail hardwoods source but anything with any figure is crazy expensive.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Musical instruments are a traditional place to use figured wood, and it works well for that.

[roger wiegand]

I'm with Zachary-- the world always needs more guitars!

I'm also a fan of contrasting, wildly figured panels in frame and panel doors.

Or, pretty much anything else.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

If any is quater sawn or close to it you may be able to break it down into back and side sets for acoustic instruments. Electric guitar builders seek out pieces that are strikingly beautiful.

[Stan Calow]

Sounds like you have a business opportunity. You can resell for a profit to those of us who love figured wood.

[Jim Becker]

Aside from leveraging that beautiful material in projects of its own, figured material an also be leveraged for special features in other projects, such as pulls, panels, inlays, etc., that "kick them up a few notches".

[Ron Citerone]

Contrasting drawer fronts. Drawer dividers and compartments for jewelry storage. Toys for kids. Toy banks. Accent pieces on charcuterie boards.
I would sort through your stash to see if you have enough of one or two species for a jewelry armoire Or other small furniture e.g. night stand.

[Richard Coers]

Don't ask me. I've been collecting figured hardwood for 50 years. In one stack I have about 3,500 bd ft. Plum pudding mahogany, quilted cherry up to 18" wide, knotty butternut, curly white oak that is so curly the medullary rays are wavy, curly ambrosia soft maple, curly walnut, and on and on and on. At the age of 71, I hope you guys come to my estate sale.

[Warren Lake]

when is it?

[Bryan Hall]

Don't ask me. I've been collecting figured hardwood for 50 years. In one stack I have about 3,500 bd ft. Plum pudding mahogany, quilted cherry up to 18" wide, knotty butternut, curly white oak that is so curly the medullary rays are wavy, curly ambrosia soft maple, curly walnut, and on and on and on. At the age of 71, I hope you guys come to my estate sale.

How many stacks do you have!? I was starting to feel gluttonous with the 250-300bf I've accumulated. Thanks for making me feel like I can head to the yard and buy some more, worry free haha.

Rob, I'm in Portland where we have an unbelievable wealth of lumberyards and home mill enthusiasts. None of the lumber I buy is ever labeled as "figured" but I'm at the yards every week and am not ashamed to dig to the back of the racks if I see a piece that catches my eye.

Thanks for the tips everyone, I think my brain is starting to spin on a few new ideas.

[Richard Coers]

How many stacks do you have!? I was starting to feel gluttonous with the 250-300bf I've accumulated. Thanks for making me feel like I can head to the yard and buy some more, worry free haha.

5' wide, 6' tall, and 10' long in one pile, then more stacked vertically. There is a stack in the laundry room, but I can't even see it. I have turning stock in my home attic, garage attic, and 3 stacks in my shop. Our son says if this house caught fire, they would see it from space.
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[Bryan Hall]

5' wide, 6' tall, and 10' long in one pile, then more stacked vertically. There is a stack in the laundry room, but I can't even see it. I have turning stock in my home attic, garage attic, and 3 stacks in my shop. Our son says if this house caught fire, they would see it from space.
IMG_3008.jpgIMG_3009.jpgIMG_3010.jpg

I'm not gonna lie Richard, I see a few spots you could slide a few more sticks into!

[Rob Luter]

......Rob, I'm in Portland where we have an unbelievable wealth of lumberyards and home mill enthusiasts. None of the lumber I buy is ever labeled as "figured" but I'm at the yards every week and am not ashamed to dig to the back of the racks if I see a piece that catches my eye......

You are truly blessed. While we have some figured wood around there (mostly Maple and Cherry), it's quickly segregated and sold at a super premium price.

Earlier in my career I had an Engineer working for me whose Father had a small sawmill in Downstate Illinois. He ran it to supplement family farming income. He had lived in the area all his life and had relationships with all the tree services and various city crews in the little farming towns. When his Dad died he went down to help his Mom with the Estate work and discovered that over the years his Dad had hoarded figured wood and stored it all stickered up in an old poultry barn (these are huge). His best guess at the time was he had 100K board feet of Curly, Quilted, and Birdseye maple, Black walnut, Curly Cherry, and many other species where his Dad would just pull the nice stuff off the saw and store it "for later". The amount of crotchwood and bookmatches in the barn was staggering. Last I heard he was using all this stuff for his retirement plan.