Maple Wood
Maples are mostly trees growing to 30-145 ft in height. Others are shrubs less than 32 feet tall with a number of small trunks originating at ground level. Most species are deciduous, but a few in southern Asia and the Mediterranean region are evergreen. Most are shade-tolerant when young, and are often late-successional in ecology; many of the root systems are typically dense and fibrous.
Maple lumber can be broadly classified into two groups, hard maples (such as sugar maple and black maple) and soft maples (such as red maple, silver maple, bigleaf maple and silver maple). Following are descriptions and working properties of maple from the USDA Forest Service's Wood Handbook.
Hard Maple
Hard maple includes sugar maple and black maple. Sugar maple is also known as hard and rock maple, and black maple as black sugar maple. Maple lumber is manufactured principally in the Middle Atlantic and Great Lake States, which together account for about two-thirds of production. The heartwood is usually light reddish brown but sometimes considerably darker. The sapwood is commonly white with a slight reddish-brown tinge. It is roughly 7 to 13 cm or more (3 to 5 in. or more) wide.
Hard maple has a fine, uniform texture. It is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock and has high shrinkage. The grain of sugar maple is generally straight, but birdseye, curly, or fiddleback grain is often selected for furniture or novelty items. Hard maple is used principally for lumber and veneer.
Hard maple has a fine, uniform texture. It is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock and has high shrinkage. The grain of sugar maple is generally straight, but birdseye, curly, or fiddleback grain is often selected for furniture or novelty items. Hard maple is used principally for lumber and veneer.
