What's in your wood

[Brian Brown]

When I was making the back for a bookcase, and book matching my panels a face appeared. Depending on which end I wanted for the top, it was either a kindly bearded old man, or an evil spook. SWMBO chose spook. She figured she could put her Stephen King books there. So my question is, what is the strangest thing that has appeared in your wood projects? Extra bonus points awarded for pictures.

Brian

[Greg Crawford]

I've got an owl in a piece of walnut plywood. I'd take a pic, but I just put a stack of 3/4 oak and cherry on top of it.

[David DeCristoforo]

How about a perfect, undraped, female torso? I mean, I'm talkin' Venus deMilo here. A guy I worked for, a Czech named Paul had this bookmatch and he had kept it for years thinking he would "use it someday". Every once in a while he would haul it out and show it to someone. One day this guy Stewart grabbed the pieces and sawed them up for cleats! You know how sometimes people talk about which language is the best to hear someone swear in? I used to think it was Dutch until I heard Paul let loose in Czechoslovakian!

[Bill Arnold]

OK, I'll probably get reprimanded for this, but it's true. I used some ash burl veneer for the fields of the headboard of the kingsize bed in our bedroom. As I lightly stained the veneer to bring out the amazing grain pattern, a perfect human female vulva appeared dead-center in the middle panel. ;)

'Nuf sed.....

:o

[Jim Dunn]

OK, I'll probably get reprimanded for this, but this true. I used some ash burl veneer for the fields of the headboard of the kingsize bed in our bedroom. As I lightly stained the veneer to bring out the amazing grain pattern, a perfect human female vulva appeared dead-center in the middle panel. ;)

'Nuf sed.....

:o

Encore Encore with pics:D:D

[David George]

I once had a piece of Canarywood that looked strangely like a politician. Planed real nice...:)

[Lance Norris]

This is a great thread. A friend of mine, his wife spotted this eagle when I showed them this piece of walnut I was saving for a box lid. Extra bonus points.

[Bill Wyko]

Here's some Teak I got to finish my kitchen and bathroom. I built my kitchen about 7 years ago but never put a cabinet over the fridge. Then I saw this Teak.:eek: I got 4 pieces like this just incase I needed extra.:D

[Dale Osowski]

Here is an interesting set that I just received. The arrow like grain pattern really draws you in.

Dale

[Nancy Laird]

We have a slab of wood that we were given that has an interesting shape. For the sake of this being a "family" forum, I won't post a picture, but if you turn it one way, it looks like a hand with the middle finger extended. Turn it 90 degrees, and it looks remarkably like a male human .... (use your imagination). It hangs on the inside of the door to the shop!

Nancy (105 days)

[Steve Clardy]

I have a chunk of pine that has an upper torso on it, an...an....



2 of these...




o o


:rolleyes: :D :D :D

[William Nimmo]

I found a cartoon angel in a piece of hickory, will post picture soon

[Roy Hatch]

I was building a simple pine book case when I found this:

What do you see?

[Roy Hatch]

And there was this piece of cypress that I resawed for the top of a chest. When I first looked at this end of the board, that was still rough sawn, I thought I wouldn't be able to use it. Although it appears 3 dimentional, it is totally flat.

[Doug Shepard]

Wow. That's some insane figure on that cypress.
I missed out on a great piece of some unknown wood years ago. There was a beat up pallet leaning against the dumpster at work and one of the boards had what looked like a butterfly wing profile. If resawn and bookmatched it would have been a complete butterfly about 6-7" wide and 8" tall complete with a sliver of darker wood on the edges that formed the body. Borrowed a hammer and crowbar during lunch and went out to rescue it, but somebody beat me to it. It probably turned into fuel for somebody's wood stove.

[Brian Brown]

Roy.

I think Led Zepplin saw this one and wrote "Stairway to Heaven". That's really wild.

Brian

[Bill Wyko]

I was building a simple pine book case when I found this:

What do you see?
A meerkat with a black eye:D

[Dave Dionne]

It looks like the out strectch head of a fly swan or other big bird to me.


I was building a simple pine book case when I found this:

What do you see?

[Brian Brown]

To all,

Thanks for your responses. It appears that mother nature has a real strange sense of humor. At the very least she seems to be a stickler for anatomical correctness, even it that correctness is a little out of place. On a vacation to the California red woods a few years ago, my wife and I came across a redwood with a very strange 3 lobed (is lobed a wood word?) burl growing on it. Again due the the family nature of this forum, and basic decency, I won't post a picture (I can't even remember taking one), but think of Nancy's board hanging on the door. Only this was in full 3D, and fully anatomically correct.

I once saw a website from an online wood supplier that showed some very unusual grain patterns. One was a lion head, and one was a cow. There was no questioning the images in these, they were very distinct. I tried to find the vendor, and post the link, but couldn't. If anyone knows the link, would you please let me know. I think I am going to start a collection of unusual figure pictures.

Bonus points awarded all around for your contributions, X10 for those that posted pictures, or in some cases had the decency not to.

Brian

[David DeCristoforo]

"At the very least she seems to be a stickler for anatomical correctness, even it that correctness is a little out of place."

Well you have to keep in mind that the average male woodworker can see a female figure in any piece of wood. Out of a strong sense of self preservation, I will not speak for the female woodworkers here, average or otherwise......

[Jim Mattheiss]

The closest I can come to those is the link below.

http://www.oldhouseparts.com/views.htm?name=Apr2006Stock/Napoleon_2.jpg

While visiting Kinnebunkport Maine on vacation this summer we stopped in to Old House Parts. We looked a all the salvage parts they had and visited with the store cat Naploean, who has the word JOY in his fur.

Jim