Overview. Tiger maple, a specialty wood noted for its unusual stripes or lines of its grains, is also known as flame maple, fiddleback maple and curly maple. Tiger maple is cut from red maple (Acer rubrum) so-called because of its brilliant red foliage in the autumn.inishing. The tiger or flame effect is in the grain of the wood, not the finish, although 18th-century makers of furniture, cabinets and violins scraped the finish by hand to accentuate the pattern. Tiger maple that is just sanded appears lifeless and flat. Antique furniture finished with tiger maple is highly prized.