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Mountain ash floor, showing some fiddleback figure

In wood, figure refers to the appearance of wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface (side-grain).

Description

Typically figured red gum table
Birdseye figure in Northern Sugar Maple lumber boards

In wood, figure refers to the appearance of wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface (side-grain). A figured wood is not plain.

The figure of a particular piece of wood is, in part, due to its grain and, in part, due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood.

Types

A few of the tropical hardwoods, like the rosewoods, may have a unique figure. Types of figure include:

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