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Thread: Fiddleback

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 1999
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    The Gurdies, Victoria, Australia
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    Unhappy Fiddleback

    I decided to shift this from the 'GENERAL' category to here, it seems more appropriate.

    To all you woodies with a bit of botanical knowledge.
    In most cases I have some idea on what causes the various interesting characteristics we see in wood, but I have not found anyone who can explain what happens in the growth of a tree to cause the 'fiddleback' character in timber.

    Someone must know. ?????????
    Someone must know. ?????????

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  3. #2
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    May 2001
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    Gidday Hartley, Fiddleback is a great feature and I am sure some of the wizzes here can tell you what it is.

    Cheers
    There was a young boy called Wyatt
    Who was awfully quiet
    And then one day
    He faded away
    Because he overused White


    Floorsanding in Canberra and Albury.....

  4. #3
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    Melbourne, Victoria
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    They haven't for the last six years, what makes you think they will now?
    Is there anything easier done than said?
    - Stacky. The bottom pub, Cobram.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Adelaide
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    Talking

    compression from the weight of the trees mass on the trunk ? does it really matter ... so long as it looks cool !

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by DanP
    They haven't for the last six years, what makes you think they will now?

    Too good for me, thought I might be able to sneak an old one through with everyone preoccupied with the WWS

    There was a young boy called Wyatt
    Who was awfully quiet
    And then one day
    He faded away
    Because he overused White


    Floorsanding in Canberra and Albury.....

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Stratford, New Zealand
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    61
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    734

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    Stress in the tree is a common cause... but it's not allways obvious.
    Read a while back about a guy experimenting with bending saplings over for a year... to stress them... then straightening them again to grow as a normal tree.
    Once the wavy grain was established in the tree it grew the same pattern each year.
    Dont know if that helps but I've found figure mostly in leaners and around large branches where there is lots of stress involved. Of course that also means hard to fell in one piece / hard to saw / hard to dry.. but worth it if you can make it work

    Ian

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canberra
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    40

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    Fiddleback is a feature of regular pattern caused by compression of timber fibers. It is one expression of the stresses a tree experiences as it grows.

    Weight is a common source of compression and a stout large tree such as River Red Gum can exhibit marked compression on all sides of the truck.
    <O</O
    You will also find compression marks under heavy branches where the tree grows cells in a compressed space to counter the weight.<O</O

    It will also occur where trees are regularly subject to a strong prevailing wind or grow on steep slopes for example. These forms of compression often result in tension on the opposite side of the truck where the fibers are literally stretched. Boards cut from this section of the tree are more prone to bowing when cut as the stresses are relieved.<O</O

    Its worth a stroll in the forest to check for horizontal ripples in the truck of the tree. This is often a sign that compression marks and probably fiddle back is to found under the surface.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    May 2005
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    Eden Hills, South Australia
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    Nice examples here:

    http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...fiddleback.htm

    But it seems the botanical cause of the grain pattern is a bit of a mystery. For example:
    "Modern botany and science still cannot adequately account for what exactly causes the visually-stunning figuring in Fiddleback Maple"
    and
    "Fiddleback figuring is not to be confused with "compression grain" or "stress grain" found where roots merge into the bole and also on the underside of large limbs"
    (see http://www.spectrumhardwoods.com/products/). I suppose your aim would be to examine a tree to detect the presence of fiddleback before felling. Maybe a timber miller could help.
    Those are my principles, and if you don't like them . . . well, I have others.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
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    Southern Tasmania Geeveston
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    Default Fiddleback............

    Out of interest we found a blackwood trunk in the forestry burning wind rows and slabbed it and has been said it was a crooked trunk like a lazy S.
    Here is a pic of the fiddleback close up and a slab to show the shape of the trunk.........

    Reguards Tasman
    Tassie woodie We never grow up our toys just get more expensive.......

  11. #10
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    Feb 2005
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    East Bentleigh, Melbourne, Vic
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tasman
    Out of interest we found a blackwood trunk in the forestry burning wind rows and slabbed it and has been said it was a crooked trunk like a lazy S.
    Here is a pic of the fiddleback close up and a slab to show the shape of the trunk.........

    Reguards Tasman
    Hi Tasman!

    Wow! Imagine that (if large enough, even in several bookmatched boards) on the top of a dining table!

    I want some, dribble, dribble

    Cheers!

  12. #11
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Moo, G'day from CASINO NSW the real home of Beef.
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    58
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    Default

    Genetics, sorta like freckles
    Bruce C.
    catchy catchphrase needed here, apply in writing to the above .

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