# Question on bird's eye maple



## Dale Allen (Jan 16, 2017)

I have this 1" x 2" piece of bird's eye maple(at least that is what the label said) that I want to get the best effect from on a blank.
I cut off a 6" piece and made 2 1" square blanks and turned one down. 
There is not a lot of the 'eyes' showing.
Is there something I can do in how I cut it to improve that?

Dale


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## wouldentu2? (Jan 16, 2017)

Pen blanks are so small you need very fine grain or lots of eyes for the best look. You need to    cut the larger blank to get out the best smaller blank possibly tossing out the rest of the larger blank.


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## Dale Lynch (Jan 16, 2017)

While technically birdseye,they are very shallow.Not much you can do with it as far as turning goes.Try and get some with stronger eyes and use oil to make them pop.I do have a source for some,I could look into it if you'd like.


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## Dale Allen (Jan 16, 2017)

Thanks anyway Dale.
I'll maybe make something else with the rest of the board.
It was an inexpensive project cutoff anyway.


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## jttheclockman (Jan 16, 2017)

Dale woods like that come in grades and the A+++ grade is the ones with small eyes and many of them. They are used for pool cues and smaller objects. Wood like you have is good for projects that have larger surface areas such as jewelry boxes and such. You will still get a nice effect because even though there are no eyes or very little the grain patterns are different than normal maples. As mentioned add an oil undercoat such as BLO or danish oil and it will bring that grain out nicely. Then top coat with your finish.


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## robutacion (Jan 16, 2017)

If you dye it, stabilising it or not, the contrast on the wood will improve significantly, you just need to try.

Cheers
George


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## jttheclockman (Jan 16, 2017)

Here is a photo of some AAA grade birdseye maple veneer to compare to.
  Above plain and below oiled.


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## MDWine (Jan 17, 2017)

While you don't have much great figure, maple is still a great wood IMHO.
I'd try some dye, something that penetrates well.


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## KenV (Jan 17, 2017)

There is some stripe/curl in that maple that will work well with a touch of color fast dye or ink used with a larger pen like a cigar.

Acrylic inks or PITT markers provide light fast color at a moderate price.


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