Hard maple is commonly used in the manufacture of flooring, furniture, cabinets, billiard cues and other finished wood products. Compared to sugar (hard) maple, cherry and walnut are softwoods too. Both are types of hardwoods. Physical Characteristics: Soft maple is more likely than hard maple to be peppered with “pith flecks,” which are dark, irregular streaks or spots that usually result from insect attack on the growing tree. Both are quite hard as compared to other woods and both are specifically used for certain applications. This hardwood is the best type of maple for flooring due to the unique characteristics of this wood species. Curly Maple has been a favorite among furniture makers in America since the early colonial days. Here are the facts about why soft maple is the perfect wood for your custom furniture: It’s more sustainable. Range Cream white to reddish brown. You can dent soft maple with your fingernail easily. by The Wood Craftsman | Oct 21, 2019 | Best Wood for Furniture | 0 comments. Hello and thanks for the A2A. Hard Maple’s beauty and strength makes it a favorite for flooring, cabinetry, furniture, paneling and veneer. Soft Maple is an excellent material to choose when purchasing custom furniture for your home or office. Types of Lumber: Pine, Oak and Maple. Maple is a white hardwood and is considered to have a very tight and even grain. "Soft maple" is the common term for four species of maple trees: Silver maple (Acer saccharinum), Red maple (Acer rebrum), Boxelder (Acer … The grain is very fine and uniform in appearance.Maple has the likeness of cherry, is about as hard as cherry, without carrying the cost of cherry wood. So, definitely, you should give more info about what kind of furniture you are talking about. The Maple comes in both soft … Harder woods create good, solid long-lasting joinery in furniture. Taking the hardness data into consideration with other hardwoods, Brown Maple is slightly easier than Maple to work with when being shaped. Curly Maple is also referred to as sugar maple, rock maple, quilted maple, and hard rock maple. Ash is known to be one of the hardest hardwoods and has wide-ranging uses. Required fields are marked *. Maple. Characteristics that make Acer saccharum perfect for MFMA flooring include fine and uniform texture, straight grain, resistance to shock, hardness and strength, resistance to dents and scratches, and stiffness. Maple wood is available as hard and soft maple wood. Because of their fine, straight grain, both varieties are more stable than many other woods. Because soft maple wood can be sourced from several different trees in the maple … The maple wood has a naturally creamy texture with attractive grain patterns. Here are a few facts that you may not know about soft maple wood. Lumber types are often classified as hard or soft. Brown maple comes from the center of various maple trees. Soft maple is commonly used for railroad crossties, boxes, pallets, crates, furniture, veneer, wooden ware and novelties. The wood is given its name because it is soft in comparison to hard maple. A year ago, Woodshop News wrote the following about the status of domestic wood markets: "Wood dealers have a 'wait-and-see' attitude when it comes to forecasting how wood markets will perform in 2010. It is readily distinguished from sugar maple (i.e., hard maple) as the leaves of silver maple have deep notches between the lobes, whereas sugar maple’s leaves have shallower notches. For additional detailed information, consult the following sources: If you have additional questions, please contact MFMA's Technical Director at 888-480-9138. CLICK HERE, mfma@maplefloor.org The uniqueness of maple’s patterns provides an opportunity to enhance interior design using a neutral backdrop. When it comes to having customized furniture made, there are many different types of material that you can choose from. It also allows you to be more artistic and …, ​Nothing shreds wood quite like the different types of power saws. The soft maples are often used as a cheaper substitute for hard maple mouldings, or in applications where the trim is painted. Lastly, hard maple will hold up much better than soft and is at least twice the price. The terms are also used to indicate wood obtained from their respective trees. As far as for what you can buy, this varies based on your location and which species grow in your area. If you see a piece of just "maple" furniture in a store, chances are it is soft maple and that is legal as long as you do not advertise "hard maple". Soft Maple (950 on the Janka Scale) gets its name because it is less dense than Hard Maple (1450 on the Janka Scale). Comparing Norway Maple to Hard Maple Strictly speaking, Norway Maple is its own species, not classified as either Hard Maple or Soft Maple. Good soft maple lumber will bring almost as much as hard maple. "Hard maple" is the common term for two species of maple trees: Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) and Black Maple (Acer nigrum). Soft maple works even more easily than hard maple. When it comes to choosing a durable yet beautiful and highly sustainable material for your new customized furniture, be sure to consider soft maple wood. Hard maple (1,450 lb f janka) is roughly twice as hard as soft maple (700-950 lb f janka)—primarily because it tends to grow about half as fast as most other soft maple species. It is a beautiful wood for any woodworking project that has a soft and flowing figure. . And even though furniture experts will tell you that it’s one of the most durable types of lumber out there, it still doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves in terms of quality, making it a less desirable option for some customers simply based on that factor alone. However, they are all overall less strong and hard than hard maple, which makes them more affordable and easily available. This makes it softer and easier for furniture designers to work with. Silver maple is considered to be in the grouping of soft maples , and its wood is lighter, softer, and weaker than that of hard maple. While many of these tasks are also possible with other tools, few, if …, A hand saw is an important tool to have if you do a lot of handy jobs around the house or if you like to take on woodworking projects. Other Names Carolina red maple, Drummond red maple, Maple, Red maple, Scarlet maple, Soft maple, Swamp maple, Water maple. ... easy” way that I know of. I have no experience finishing or refinishing floors, but I have done plenty of pieces of furniture. What is a miter saw? The sustainability of soft maple also means that customers receive customized furniture pieces that match well and have a consistent appearance, unlike tables and chairs that are made from different types of maple wood or other species. Its growth rings are barely visible, but light brown streaks are common along the grain. They are hard and soft maple. It is preferred by many furniture creators because it is able to provide beautiful results that are less time consuming for the company and more affordable for the customer. A common measurement used to determine relative wood hardness is the Janka Hardness Test. Both varieties are harder than many other woods; hard maple is so hard (a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5) that it’s difficult to work with. They each come with their unique set of properties and characteristics as far as hardness, strength, and weight are concerned. On the Janka hardness scale, which ranks wood density, hard maple ranks 1,450. Soft maple is about 25 percent less hard than hard maple, has medium-bending and crushing strength, and is low in stiffness and shock resistance. The soft wood is commonly used in furniture and molding very resilient and hence it used for durable purposes, such as a butcher block. However, it can occasionally yield some nice wood.February 17, 2012 It's a logical technical progression …, If you work with wood, then you should have the best wood chisels. It all comes from the same tree: hard maple, rock maple, sugar maple, brown maple, white maple. If they are both considered to be hard woods, then why is soft maple given its name? It is still harder, stronger, and more durable than many other varieties of wood. The flesh of soft maple trees -- in particular silver and red maple -- resembles that of hard maple, but is not as heavy, hard or strong. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. But why is soft maple considered to be the best over hard maple, and what is the difference between the two? Soft is obviously easier to work and lighter. We may also receive commissions on purchases from other retail websites. Hard maple is commonly used in the manufacture of flooring, furniture, cabinets, billiard cues and other finished wood products. It has good steam-bending properties. NEED A PDF? Maple is difficult to work with hand tools, and is usually expensive. Its color is light brown, with a reddish cast; the grain is usually straight, but also occurs in bird's-eye, curly, or wavy patterns. The name isn’t used to describe the quality or strength of the wood, and you don’t have to worry about getting a poor-quality piece if you have one made using soft maple wood. Soft maple, on the other hand, is relatively easy to work with. Along with being strong and durable, soft maple is also much less expensive than many other types of wood used to make customized furniture. Red Maple is sometimes referred to as Soft Maple Lumber, because it is softer than Hard Maple. Soft Maple is used to describe four other types of maple trees: Silver maple (Acer saccharinum), Red maple (Acer rebrum), Boxelder (Acer negundo) and Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum). It is used extensively in the box making industry, and often soft maple boxes are then covered with decorative wood veneers. Also, hard maple, while tough on tools, machines well while soft maple tears out and splinters. 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