Hard Maple
Main Uses
Flooring, furniture, paneling, ballroom and gymnasium floors, kitchen
cabinets, worktops, table tops, butchers blocks, toys, kitchenware and
millwork: stairs, handrails, mouldings, and doors.
Relative Abundance
4 percent of U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Did You Know?
A single sugar maple tree produces up to 12 gallons of sap a year.
General Description
The sapwood is creamy white with a slight reddish brown tinge and the
heartwood varies from light to dark reddish brown. The amount of darker
brown heartwood can vary significantly according to growing region. Both
sapwood and heartwood can contain pith fleck. The wood has a close fine,
uniform texture and is generally straight-grained, but it can also occur
as "curly," "fiddleback," and "birds-eye"
figure.
Working Properties
Hard maple dries slowly with high shrinkage, so it can be susceptible to
movement in performance. Pre-boring is recommended when nailing and
screwing. With care it machines well, turns well, glues satisfactorily,
and can be stained to an outstanding finish. Polishes well and is
suitable for enamel finishes and brown tones.
Physical Properties
The wood is hard and heavy with good strength properties, in particular
its high resistance to abrasion and wear. It also has good steam-bending
properties.
Availability
Widely available. The higher quality grades of lumber are available
selected for white color (sapwood) although this can limit availability.
Figured maple (birds-eye, curly, fiddleback) is generally only available
in commercial volumes as veneer.
|
Home