Anyone familiar with soft maple growing habbits, and staining?

[kelvin]

Howdy all. 

I just got back from cutting a dozen nice sized soft maples at a neighbors place.  I'm amazed that about 1/2 of the trees seem to have a unique stain to them.  Kind of a star pattern all the way up the tree.  These trees seemed to be in a kind of low area that looks like it holds water in the spring.  I thought soft maples liked this area and tend to predominate in that condition.  Will they always be stained when in a wetter area?  Does anyone have experience sawing logs with this type of staining?  Anything interesting come from them?  I wonder if quarter sawing them will yeild anything unique?

An interesting note is that soft maple is worth hardly anything these days.  My neighbor was offered about .20 cents stumpage which wasn't much considering how nice the trees looked.  20" dbh, and we are getting 2 to 3 decent No. 1 sawlogs before they start branching (8'6" ers) 

Now i wonder, the other 3 loggers must have known what they would look like b/c of the enviroment.  Is this often the case?  There weren't too many with rotten spots, or hollow ones.  THat was what i was looking for to see if it was too wet.  50% have this stain, and its not just the heartwood.  It has fingers that radiate out to within a couple inches of the bark, and is in all the logs all the way up the tree.  Just a fluke?  Are they always like this?  I'm not too familiar with soft maple, and most of my logs come from the dump where we take 'em or leave 'em.

Any ideas?  I'll try get some pics in the next day or two if nobody knows what i'm talking about.  What is a good use for soft maple?  We have some guys who like the QS stuff, and hoping a couple might have some figure.  A local cabinet shop is willing to pay $1.20 for sel and bet kiln dried for drawers.  Seems pretty cheap.
Thanks,
Kelvin

[WDH]

Ambrosia maple, created by a fungal stain introduced by an insect, is prized by bowl turners.  The stain is blue-green and very striking.  This ambrosia effect (caused by the ambrosia beetle I think) occurs most often in soft maple.

Not sure if this is what you have.

[raycon]

Sounds like you're describing red maple --ambrosia.
Its not uncommon in CT. Follow the link for a photo.

http://www.hullforest.com/php/products.php5?cat=red_maple&type=ambrosia

[WDH]

Yep.

[kelvin]

So would plain sawing be the best way to bring out the best in this type of log?  The stain is a dark brown color, i see references to red.  I don't see any red in the stain.  Is this something that could happen in central michigan?  I've seen it for sale on the internet before, but hadn't seen it locally. 
Thanks for the replies guys,
kelvin

[raycon]

Flat sawing is the way to go.

[Oakiemac]

Plain saw it. QS will not show any of the grain. I am surprised that you say soft maple is not good for anything. I've been selling it quite well at around $2.00/bf more or less.
The staining that you are describing is the heart wood. Some trees have a lot and some don't. I've cut into a few where that brown is about all that there is. White wood is what you want. If you get it sawed up and dont have a buyer, let me know I might buy it.

[raycon]

Poplar and soft maple are sought after for paint grade stock locally.  Its good to keep a few mbf around if possible.
I've been searching my hard drive for a photo of wide ambrosia stained maple. Will walk out side and grab a stick in a minute or 3 and take a new photo.

[metalspinner]

I built my kitchen with Ambrosia maple and love it.  It is a very easy wood to work with and dry.  I have 22" wide boards that have dryed perfectly flat.  You need to sell it as Ambosia Maple and not soft maple.

Under a coat of poly and over time, the wood will even out somewhat in color, although the streaking will always show up prominately.

Ambrosia maple, created by a fungal stain introduced by an insect, is prized by bowl turners.

Hey!  I resemble that remark.

[grawulf]

Kelvin,
Here in Ohio, most of our figured maple is soft - I've used a lot of it in the house - lots of curl and ambrosia. The contrast between heart and white just makes it interesting. Some types - silver? end up being more like balsa after drying and just aren't worth the bother, but I would take red maple any day of the week - it be pretty and when finished natural, it'll darken into a nice amber color.

[WDH]

I built my kitchen with Ambrosia maple and love it.  It is a very easy wood to work with and dry.  I have 22" wide boards that have dryed perfectly flat.  You need to sell it as Ambosia Maple and not soft maple.

Under a coat of poly and over time, the wood will even out somewhat in color, although the streaking will always show up prominately.

Ambrosia maple, created by a fungal stain introduced by an insect, is prized by bowl turners.

Hey!  I resemble that remark.

OK, let me try again,  "Ambrosia maple, created by a fungal stain introduced by an insect, is prized by highly skilled, insightful, and exceptionally intelligent woodworkers who use the wood quite creatively as a prized cabinet wood."