Standing maple question

[Drew Morton]

I have a chance at 3 large standing maples. Knowing that there are many different types of maples, does anyone know what types are more likely to have figure in them? I dont really want to hire a sawyer to cut this up, only to find out they are just straight grained stuff...Id like to get some curl out of them. Is there specific species that are more likely to have figure in them, or do I have to cut them up to see? Thanks for your replies...
Drew

[robertfsmith]

Softmaple is most likely to have curl. Peel off a little piece of the bark, if the wood is rippled, it is definately curly. But the curl may only be a couple inches deep, then the rest will be straight grained. But the wood may be smooth and still have curly figure inside.

Hard maple has curl too, but not nearly as often as soft maple. If they are hard maple there may be a 1 in a million chance of birdseye, to tell if they are birdseye check out this article on identifing Birdseye Identification (http://www.allwoodwork.com/article/birdseyeidentification1.htm). But more than likely it will probably be straight grained. You really won't know for sure until you cut it up.

Hope this helps,