Hard Maple (Sugar Maple)
Scientific name:
Acer saccharum
Other names:
White Maple
Sugar Maple
Rock Maple
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The hard maple is the state tree of Wisconsin, Vermont, New York and West Virginia. In the North, during the cold nights and warm days of late winter, the sugar maple is tapped for its sucrose-containing sap, the source of maple syrup. It may take up to 30 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Early American settlers used maple ashes to make soap and Native Americans crafted their spears from hard maple. Until the turn of the century, the heels of women’s shoes were made from maple. Maple has been a favorite of American furniture makers since early Colonial days. Hard maple is the standard wood for cutting boards because it imparts no taste to food and holds up well.
Weight:
Weight averages about 45lbs per cu. ft.
Use:
Flooring, furniture, paneling, ballroom and gymnasium floors, kitchen cabinets, worktops, table tops, butchers blocks, toys, kitchenware and millwork: stairs, handrails, mouldings, and doors.
General characteristic:
Hard Maple is a domestic hardwood. The heartwood is reddish-brown to light tan. The sought after sapwood is nearly white. It has a fine uniform texture and is very strong and hard with close grain. Because of it’s strength and stiffness, it ranks as one of the more valuable hardwoods.
Working properties:
Hard Maple works well with sharp tools and adheres well with glue. It must be pre-bored for nails and screws. Hard Maple takes stains and polish well. This tough wood has a tendency to burn during end grain cuts.
Drying and shrinkage:
Hard maple dries slowly with high shrinkage, so it can be susceptible to movement in performance. It dries slowly with little degradation or problems;
Durability:
Heartwood is non-durable and sapwood is susceptible to attack by furniture beetle. Defects caused by insects (pith flecks) are sometimes found. Heartwood is resistant to preservative treatment, but sapwood is permeable.
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