Thread: How does fiddle back in timber occur

It seems to occur where the tree is pressure stressed, on buttresses, sides where the tree is leaning to one side placing pressure on the wood grain.
Don't really know. What does wikipedia say?

Greg

thats my understanding greg.

Fiddleback in timber often occurs when there is a weight bias(tree leaning more to one side),hence enormous strains are placed upon certain sections of the tree.Compression of the fibres occur,often becoming more intense as the tree matures.Some species tend to be renound for producing 'Fiddleback' grain,Qld Maple being one of them.Photo is of Qld Maple crotch section,which would have supported alot of weight when it was alive and standing.Cheers

It can also occur for the full length of a tree and not as the result of compression but genetic factors causing the wood to grow in that manner. Blackwood with this feature has been cloned for plantations.
cheers
Steve

Up our way (nth NSW) in native HWDs once the trees get big, old & mature the butt sections are wavy / fiddleback all round the circumference up to 5m +, in days gone by they used to cut the trees down above this height on spring boards & leave the tall stump behind as it wasn't any good for structural timber.
regards inter

Thanks every one I now have a better understanding.