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French Maple (back wood)....
...After I had made my first four violins, my wood working brother Jim told me about some beautiful flamed maple boards he had seen at his Portland, Oregon wholesale lumber supplier. The owner had been on vacation in France and when he stopped by a local lumber mill, he saw this flamed maple and bought it and had it shipped back to America to be sold for instrument making. The owner helped me pick out two 2" thick planks each 10' long... one was quartersawn and the other slab cut (for making one piece violin backs).
...I have been using this Maple for my violins ever since. There is still enough left for perhaps five more violins.
...The slab cut (cut off the center line of the tree) is behind and the quartersawn cut (cut through the center of the tree) is in the foreground. This type of cut is usually not wide enough for one piece backs so it is center joined and book matched before carving into shape.
