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Do you have a jointer and/or thickness planer? If so, you can take off very thin layers. Slightly wetting the wood before each run will help reduce tearout. Square it up on the jointer and then take it to thickness on the planer. Then sand as normal moving to finer grit until you get the level you want.

You can also start with a hand planer and get it relatively smooth and flat. then move to sanding. To me, these are a little easier than starting out sanding. Sand with the grain as you would non-figured wood.
 

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ok i guess im that new what is fiddleback?
 

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Thanks "Toxicoval" I dont have thickness planer !!! perhaps I might find a mate with one & run through his !!
like the tip on wtting the wood to prevent tear out !! great stuff Toxic !! all this will help me out with it !!!

Thanks Anthony
 

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G'day Bounty !!

best way to discribe "Fiddleback' is Rippled Timber, if you look at the picture on here, the timber has a wave motion through it !!

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.

Fiddleback is more commenly Milled from tree's that are on hills !!! as the tree is reaching for the sun light, the centre of gravity of the tree is under stress ,because it wants to go vetical to the sun ! the tree fibres condense , to give it the strength to do so !! hope that explains ,what is Fiddleback !! and how it formed !!

regards Anthony
 

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I see your cat plays the fiddle…;-) Nice wood
 

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Well, fiddle back maple is what violins are made of.

We don't sand it, we scrape it.

The reason is we don't want any sawdust in the pores of the wood because it will dull the "image" after varnish is applied. In the violin world, image, or depth is highly oooh'd and ahhh'd over….
 

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the best method to sand fiddleback is with a 16" drum sander … start with 80 grit and sand it a bit at a time until it cleans up on both sides. No tear out. Continue sanding to 320 … oil, shellac and paste wax
 

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Yea, you will have to sand it…that is not fiddleback, that is a slice of endgrain. Like a cutoff from a board, looks like red oak to me. "Fiddleback'' or curl shows on the flat or quartersawn face.
 

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Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle… ;)

(sorry, I couldn't resist)
 

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If you really want the best results, don't sand it at all, but use a card scraper. If you don't have one, they are only about 10-15 bucks and there are a million video blogs out there telling you how to sharpen and use one. Scraping it is much like using a hand plane. I have several projects on this site using curly maple or fiddleback maple and all were scraped instead of sanded. Additionally, scraping will help keep the 3D look when it is finished.
 

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Yeah, I can't really tell what you've got. Those open pores look HUGE! That's why I figure Daren is saying it is an end cut from a large board? It looks like curl on multiple sides (from the second photo) so I still think it might be curl.

sanding is the easiest way to deal with highly figured woods. Not sure if you will want to fill those pores or not though. It might affect the appearance.
 

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Yes !! it is a cut off from a board !! but not an end cut !!! it is Australian Ash (alpine ash) hardwood !!! I know what darren is saying!! we quarter saw all our timber at the mill ! but ! it came from a board that was long ways !! not end !! the slab was cut down from 12 inch , which is a crime in my opinion, our operators are told to cut everything !! even the interesting timbers !! anyway !!
I see it as fiddleback !! and appreciate all this fantastic feedback !!! so thankyou for all your advise ! I now have a few things to work with !! I have a couple of peices I can play with to see what effect i get !! I will post pictures and blog of result on here next week !!!! so stay tuned to the next episode of !! "That's Not Fiddleback thats something else !! sounds like a Monty Python script !!!!!!!! ohhh yes it is !!!! ohhh No it's Not !!!! ohhh yes !! it is !!! LOL

regards all

Anthony

P.S. I just want a viable excuse to stuff around in me shed this weekend, without the "Missus" planning something else for me to do !!!!
 

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I see what you are saying. Looks like the blades used to cut this were dull. Figured wood, in my experience, need sharp blades to cut nicely. Really sharp, or plan on lots of sanding, then dealing with the sawdust in the pours. Nice looking wood…......................
 

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I tend to agree with the guys that mention using a card scraper, or, personally, I prefer a scraper plane. I also would not rule out using an old wooden high angle smoothing plane to get the finish you want. You want one that has some size and mass to it with a blade angle of about 50-55 degrees and you want the blade to be really, really, really sharp. No kidding, you want it so sharp that you can shave hair off of your arm effortlessly. It will amaze you how easily and quickly a tool like this works when it is properly prepared. It will probably take longer to sharpen the iron on the plane than to surface your board.
 
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