George
Wood
Work
Curly Maple, also known as tiger maple, or ribbon maple, has a distinct figure caused by a characteristic undulation in the grain of the wood. Curly maple is indeed curly as the grain waves through the wood. Wood of uneven grain is a challenge to work as the tooling has to be extremely sharp to avoid "tearing out" wood fibers that change direction relative to the cutting tool. The undulating fine grain gives curly maple its characteristic shimmering appearance, provided none of the fibers are ripped out of the boards face.
I was fortunate to be in on the start of this project, a family room that was one small part of a much larger residential remodel. I have a personal affection for curly maple and when I learned that the family room was ceiling was to be paneled in solid curly maple, I smiled. Hard to work, gorgeous when it's done. The entire ceiling of the family room was to be panelled in hand joined solid timber.
We began framing the family room in early July, about the fourth. A complex puzzle of steel and wood. The cupola rises above the rest of the room, with no visible means of support. The rest of the room framing involved complex angles in multiple planes. Its one thing to draw such a construction when an eraser is always at hand. It is quite another to build it.
The curly maple arrived, later than scheduled and the holidays were approaching fast. The room was scheduled to host an elaborate Christmas party. Four of us worked over a hundred hours in a weeks time to complete the maple ceiling on time. Quite a sight when finished.
the art of
problem
solving
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