Definitions for "figuring"
The final stage of grinding a mirror. At this stage, your mirror is already polished. You use altered stroke patterns, altered laps, or other techniques to turn your sphere into a parabola (assuming you are making a Newtonian or similar design). After this, it's off to the coater.
Keywords:  grain, veneers, wood, natural, pattern
The natural grain of wood seen in veneers.
A pattern made by the natural grain of wood.
problem solving that involves numbers or quantities