"toller" wrote in news:JQaje.606$ snipped-for-privacy@news02.roc.ny:
Yep, wood like that still exists. I've made several pieces out of comparable wood. Here's one example:
Believe it or not the curly is less expensive for me than many other woods (for example it's comparable to good quality cherry for me, both are pushing $8 a bf).
Much of the maple I've seen with figure like that is a softer maple (the lumber contact I have calls it "red leaf" soft maple). At least in my source, the hard maple tends to have a finer curl pattern than does the soft maple.
You could darken the curl that way by using a dark amber or brown dye followed by oil and shellac. Maybe in an antique piece they used linseed oil which is naturally darkening with time.