Yes Sajen, that was the point of the exercise.

As we have commented time and time again:-

here, we are looking at images of objects, wood included, not the actual object


it is often very difficult to be too certain about anything.

I do believe some of the Bugis and Peninsula examples are kemuning, but I don't really know, because the kemuning I have seen and handled most of has been only as big as a jejeran, and nearly always stained. It is entirely possible that there are other local woods used in these Bugis and Peninsula examples that I do not know.

Hello Alan,

Another contributing factor is the climate (in addition to the local growing conditions) which can have a pronounced effect on such figured woods: e. g. #9 seems to show the effect of a more pronounced monsoonal climate like in northern Malaya but the results on the wood can be much stronger. Will add pics later.

Regards,
Kai

I think I'm missing your point here Kai.

We can find figure such as fiddle back and curly grain of various types in many different trees from the artic circle to the tropics.

One of the major types of curly figure is what we call compression grain, this is where you get figure as the result of constant prevailing winds, or it can occur adjacent to a large branch, where it will often finish up as feather crotch or one of the other crotch variants.

Genetics can also play a role in providing fancy figure, and there also seems to be a strng argument for mineral uptake from the soil having an influence.

What I am saying here is all opinion that I have picked up from being around cabinet makers, stock makers, and musical instrument makers for most of my life. It is if you like, "trade belief".

To the best of my knowledge the academics who study this type of thing have not yet come up with any definite reasons for the formation of fancy figure in wood, about all they seem to be able to say is that there are many reasons for this occurrence of fancy grain, and those reasons are not yet fully understood..

Can you expand on your statement, especially the effect that a monsoonal climate can have in creating a curly grain?

Hello Alan,

I wasn't referring to the usually chatoyant effects you've shown examples of but rather to strongly contrasting woods as in the attached pic (courtesy of rsword). Will post some more links later when I have more time. The latter wood types seem to be actively selected for in N Malaya and are supposed to be the result of more pronounced dry seasons (possibly coupled with harsh growing conditions like on windy cliffs).

Regards,
Kai

Thanks Kai, I see what you're getting at now.

The only theorising that I've come across that relates to colour variations like is that when you get a wide variation in colour in the sap wood what you are looking at is the result of infection or damage to the tree. However, the way in which a log is sawn also has a huge effect on the final material. There is very often a wide colour variation between the sap wood and the heart wood in a tree.

The grain in the material of the example you have shown runs along the width of the wrongko top, from one end to the other. This means that it has been cut from a length of timber that has been sawn from the length of the trunk. A tree grows outwards from its core, so when you have a poor season, or a dry season, or a very good season, you can see this reflected in the growth rings that radiate from the core of the trunk.

Looking at the example that you have posted, Kai, I believe that what we are looking at is the result of the way in which the log was cut. There are several techniques used for cutting a log that will produce different effects in the grain shown in the final plank. The most common technique used to produce fancy grain material is called quarter sawing, a technique that results in the growth rings falling between 80 and 90 degrees to the face of the plank.This is done by first cutting the log into quartersthrough it, and then sawing each of those quarters longitudinally, producing increasingly smaller planks as you move to the outside of the quarter.

If we look at this example, we can see very pale wood at the extreme right, then moving left a darker wood, and at the far left a small touch of pale wood again. The pale wood would be sap wood, and the dark wood would be heart wood. The log that produced the material from which this wrongko was carved was sawn in a way to maximise the colour variation between heart wood and sap wood, and at the same time to maximise the chatoyant effect of the curly grain.

The image of a log cross section might clarify how this can be done.

Then again there are the other factors of genetics and disease.

Hello Kai,

the wood from the sampir you posted seems to be from ketenga wood which so far I know you only have in Malaysia.

Regards,

Detlef

IN the region there is also the nara tree that has a red core and a brown outer wood. Could other trees in the region also have similar characteristics?

Other trees all over the world share these characteristics.

All trees have heart wood (the core) and sap wood (the outer wood).

Almost invariably these materials differ in colour.

I've never seen it, but I have been told that the sap wood of black ebony is in fact white.

Hi Alan, a very instructive line up. I wonder how many timbers the common name Akasia is given to in Indonesia. I think interesting too to think about what Akasia (botanical classification Acacia auriculiformis) is related to botanically. References regard it as the same species as one of the Australian wattles (which itself has at least 5 common names). The Tasmanian blackwood you showed is Acacia Melanoxylon, another of the Acacia family (of which there are 1200 worldwide). I think it would be extremely difficult to pick many of these species from a piece of wood alone.
drd

Only the one, I think, David.

Its a very recent timber, dating from probably only about the late 1970's. At that time it started to be planted all over Jawa to green the environment, then a few people tried the trunk base and root area of the tree for wrongkos, and found that it was most suitable for this use. Its not an expensive wood, but it has much to recommend it as a wrongko wood, and at its best the figure will rival any of the traditional woods.

Actually, a lot of people I know refer to wattles as acacias.

I've been around wood all my life, and when I was a kid I had the opportunity to see some truly exquisite cabinet timbers, both native Australian timbers, and exotics that were often in pieces that my dad had in for repair. In fact, I've still got a 1930's bespoke bedroom suite in Italian burl walnut, which has some of the best figure I've ever seen. I've been up close to the custom gunstock game, the custom knife game, and also to wrongko makers and hilt makers in Jawa. However, with all this experience, I don't consider myself at all competent to identify most timbers just from a picture, especially a picture on a computer screen. A few materials are probably pretty easy, but the vast bulk are not. Even with the wood in your hand it can often be very difficult to name what it is that you're holding.