Stefan, you call me a show off like maybe it's a bad thing. :spiteful:
That is half of my fun since I don't get to keep this stuff. The other half of the fun is when I get to see photos of what people more talented than me make with it. When you get old you have to take your thrills where you find them.
The quilted looking redwood is some of the most metallic looking wood I have ever seen. It was some curly-ish redwood root that I cut flatsawn. That is why it looks sort of quilted. I didn't know how it was going to turn out. It almost doubled in weight after stabilizing.
With madrone burl there are 2 different successful ways to handle it.
1st way, forget about it for 10 years and then cut up what didn't crack up. (80-90% loss)
2nd way, what I did. I bought from a company that pressure cooks it and then dries it.
Otherwise madrone makes good firewood. We turn away people who bring in madrone stump burls. We buy the arial burls to carve bowls. We carve them green then let them take on a shape of their own and finish them after they are done moving and are dry.
When stabilized, madrone does not have a dramatic weight gain. Only about 25%, like Myrtlewood.
I tested it out by cutting some thin strips and left them in the sun. Didn't move or crack.
The walnut was some really good stuff. Otherwise I have a tough time photographing walnut to look as good as real life. Some of this was an old crotch piece but most of the curly stuff came from a stump burl between the areas with the eyes. Cut 1/4 sawn it looked curly, cut flat it looked like jeweled steel. In between (riftsawn) sometimes looked like tiger stripes.
That is why the figure stands out more than normal. The burl portion with the eyes doesn't flash as much as the other portions. I think it has to do with how much end grain exposed around the eyes. What I do is sand to 120 on the belt sander then 220 with a palm sander to remove the lines. Then I spray them with a single light coat of aerosol lacquer. (I am being lazy, otherwise I would need to sand to about 400 grit to show the potential)
The best finish I have seen with the dark figured woods (stabilized) is to fine sand to 1000+ grit, then a few light coats of tung or danish oil, followed by paste wax and hand buff. This way the figure stays 3 dimensional and alive (still moves and changes shape).
Power buffing with some woods will burnish the figure and make it stand out more, ....but it can kill the life in the chatoyance.
It all depends on what you want. Burnished can stand out across the room. Non burnished is more subtle but mesmerizing to look at close. (just my 2 cents worth)