Tell me this isn't rippled sycamore?

[Squaredy]

Rippling is very common in Ash, Sycamore, Sweet Chestnut among others but usually only a small length near the base of the tree.  When the bark is peeled the timber underneath is clearly rippled like corrugated cardboard.  The value is if a log is strongly rippled for a fair length so whole boards will be rippled.  It is then valuable for musical instruments and so on.  Usually though it is just an interesting feature at one end of a board and has no real affect on the value because it is not strong enough or there are other faults.  

 

By the way, it is of course a nightmare to plane as the grain is dipping up and down.

[billpierce]

Phew.....sounds like I haven't just cut up a small fortune! Thanks for the Info.....so best to just chip a bit bark off up and down the stem and look for wavey bits? Anyone got pics of what to look for on a stem?

[Stubby]

26 minutes ago, devon TWiG said:

Ripples in figured wood run hoizontally across the grain the opposite to what you have shown , I have had and used rippled syc and ash and it really is gorgeous stuff but what you show is not rippled ...See left hand side of rippled Ash bowl below ...

Also a bit of spalting .

[devon TWiG]

It is not common and hard to spot , that is why it is valuable ,I know of one estate where the woodsman has chopped triangular windows through the bark to try and find some .After felling any Ash or Syc you should be able to spot it , along the vertical section of your hinge , or just cut one ring and then split it .

[devon TWiG]

2 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Also a bit of spalting .

Yes , nice bit of wood , was covered in cow shit and mud where it had fallen out of a farm woodland into a field where it stayed for a few years , until I was asked to cut and shift it to allow a new fence to be erected , sadly a lot of the log had been hacked at and most removed by farmer and was only a short fat bit left .....

[Woodworks]

Whats the difference between rippled and quilted or is just more extreme?

[Stubby]

4 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

Whats the difference between rippled and quilted or is just more extreme?

Have a look at some top end electric guitars . They have maple tops , some are quilted , some are ripple , some are birds eye  some are tiger stripped some are flamed etc etc .....

Edited January 11, 2018 by Stubby

[Khriss]

3 hours ago, Stubby said:

Its a bit " birds eye "  . Do you know its Sycamore  ?  Looks a bit Field Maple .

If thats Acer campestre Stubby - I'll bloody well eat it so I will K

[Khriss]

( Bill - it's good spoon carving stock , get cracking )

[phirow]

Ripple Sycamore is used for guitar and violin cases. Also used in butchery the rhizomes act as a disinfectant