Veneer Figures
Some, but not all, species are available in “figured” veneer. Figures are patterns, or surface effects, resulting from the various porous structures of each tree. They’re highly variable–from specie to specie and from log to log. Here are some of the most common…
Bird’s eye
This figure, which looks like “eyes,” is the result of depressions in the surface of the trunk which distort the succeeding growth rings. This figure is found almost exclusively in Northern Maples and is always rotary cut.
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Blister
This smooth veneer surface appears to be covered with small blisters and is the result of rotary cutting across an uneven contour of growth rings.
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Broken stripe
This figure appears as a stripe that runs down under the surface and then out again, in a more or less “broken” pattern. It develops only in quarter-cut veneer, most commonly in the end wood of a flitch.
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Burl
This figure appears as a close pattern of many small “eyes” surrounded by wildly distorted grain. Burls are the result of a wart-like growth on Walnut, Maple, Mapa, or Redwood, which is rotary cut to produce veneer.
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Cathedral
This is actually a grain pattern produced in flat cut veneers which results in the cathedral or loop-grain in the center of the veneer and straighter grain along the edge.
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Cluster
This figure shows scattered clusters of burl figure, intermingled with what is often called a “muscle” figure surrounding the burl. It results from half-round cutting veneer from the trunk of certain trees.
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Fiddleback
This figure produces a small roll appearance (similar to curly figure) across the grain, most commonly in Maple or Mahogany. The name harkens back to its prized use of fiddleback Maple in violin production.
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Flake
This figure only appears in species that have a very heavy medullary ray growth—Oak, Lacewood, and Sycamore, for example—and is the result of slicing close to parallel with the medullary ray.
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Mottle
This figure appears as broken-up cross markings across the grain. Broad cross markings produce a block or patchy effect called block mottle. A very small, fine cross marking creates the bee’s-wing mottle.
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Plain stripe
This straight, uniform stripy effect with very little distortion is the result of quarter slicing veneer when the porous structure is parallel with the length of the veneer.
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Pommele
This figures looks like tiny apples across the surface of the veneer. It comes from the French word for “apple ” (pomme).
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Quilted
This figure is a larger version of the pommele or blister. In a quilted figure, the “blister” is elongated and crowded giving it a softly raised 3-D effect. Common in Maple, Mahogany, Moabi, and Sapele.
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Ribbon stripe
This figure appears as a ribbon, slightly twisted and is actually something between a broken stripe and a plain stripe. Found in some quarter cut veneers.
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Ropey
In this “broken stripe” figure, the twist of the grain is all in one direction, creating the appearance of a ropey figure.
