This reader found a nice chunk of wood he thinks is pine, but it has a bird’s eye pattern in it with uniformly spaced markings. He doesn’t think they are caused by worms. Is bird’s eye pine possible?
Ellis Walentine: I’ve seen a blistered figure in pine quite often, especially in sugar pine. The blisters look a lot like bird’s eye figure. That’s one of the nice things about wood ? no two boards are ever quite alike. It makes it all the more important to choose your lumber carefully.
Rob Johnstone: Wood is a remarkably diverse material. Each piece grows in a unique place with local conditions affecting it. Yes, a pine tree could have grown in such a way (affected by disease or parasites) to create a birds eye effect. It sounds very cool; I’d love to work with it.
