As mentioned earlier, some violin makers use sycamore maple(soft). Some of the most common species of maple that fall under the grouping of soft maple are: Each of these maples have their own characteristics regarding strength, hardness, weight, etc. The less dense red maple has better numbers. That leaf was collected when I was out in Seattle. A common measurement of wood hardness is the janka hardness test. Bob, I’ve heard the same thing about the Norway Maple on old violins. (This option is obviously only available if you still have access to the living tree, and you are contemplating having it milled into lumber.) Another thing to be aware of is that with maple (especially hard maple) it is very difficult to get a very uniform color when staining the wood a darker color. A good intermediate solution of ferrous sulfate is given below. Hard maple is commonly used in the manufacture of flooring, furniture, cabinets, billiard cues and other finished wood products. Red maple gives a deep, inky blue/black color, while hard maple results in a paler bluish green color. “U” shaped sinus (sUgar) is a HARD maple. My best guess from general reports that I’ve read is that Norway Maple lies somewhere in between Red Maple and Hard Maple. 4/4 Select & Better Hard Maple - 14'-16' long. Maple Cabinets . You didn't mention whether the project was paint grade or clear finish. “The only one that seems to be specifically associated with a species is birdseye…” Quilted maple is a type of figure that some say only appears in Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum); it depends on your idea of quilted figure. Hard maple (1,450 lbf janka) is roughly twice as hard as soft maple (700-950 lbf janka)—primarily because it tends to grow about half as fast as most other soft maple species. I don’t know if they actually put any thought into their tree planting method, i.e. There's lots in the Knowledge Base about blotchy maple. Here’s a good example of sheesham without stain. Not impossible, just difficult. Why does it cost about half as much as Hard Maple? Hard maple—The classic shape that is most often associated with a maple leaf. A much better and more accurate way of testing the wood, you can take measurements of the board in question, and then weigh it to get an estimate of its density. How can I tell the two apart? Red maple trees have distinctive red flowers, twigs, seeds, and red leaves in the fall. Typically, when referring to the tree, it’s called sugar maple, while the wood is referred to as hard maple or “rock” maple. More than likely, the darker pieces are heartwood, while most maple lumber is the lighter colored sapwood. (Most measurements won’t come out to a perfectly even number, but I chose a board with easy dimensions to make it a little simpler to calculate.). But, true to its name, I remember that the leaves themselves were all gigantic, though it’s hard to express since I didn’t include a scale or ruler next to the leaves. That scanned photo of a bigleaf maple leaf looks frighteningly like a Norway maple leaf… The drawing is about right though. On the table saw, it left lots of shaggy shreddy hairs at the edges. I drink maple water from soft maples (1.2 to 1.7 sugar). The results for each of the maple species are shown in the chart below. Are Rosewoods (and Bubinga) really banned by CITES? This doesn't present a problem if painting, but clear finish looks terrible. We decided to go soft maple, no MDF, and will have an experienced refinisher paint them white. Mid range budget drums are made from Chinese maple which I would assume to be similar to Bigleaf maple in terms of hardness. I am in hopes that a custom painted cabinet made w/soft maple will not warp or scratch easily, clean easily … i have been told that the great strad violins were made from the norway maples. There are two types of maple used for cabinets: soft maple and hard maple. Soft maple will actually absorb stain, thus making it easier to get deep colors. Since a lot depends on growing conditions for each individual tree, this is not a foolproof way of distinguishing the two, but is a good reference point. Taking this calculation (42 pcf), and looking at the table above, it would appear that in all likelihood, this board is indeed Hard Maple. For DIY homeowners the best advice is to avoid staining Maple, Birch, and Cherry. Sugar maple (or rock maple:acer saccharum) is the most common hard maple, the most commercially important and the most abundant type found in the U.S. Silver, Red Maple and Boxelder are the most … I think it may be either a hybrid or maybe a subspecies with slightly different leaves (the lobes are shallower than the “wild” bigleaf maples in the area). It has a tendency to to become blotchy when stained. ... cabinets, a good general purpose hardwood. A color change can be seen within about 10 minutes, but it’s best to wait about an hour for the full color to develop before attempting to determine the outcome. I got 2 different colors from 2 suppliers with PC maple (Acer Macrophyllum) and get confused how these can be! Do you have any pictures of this floor? A standard 10- by 12-foot kitchen equipped with top-and-bottom maple RTA cabinets … Soft maple works even more easily than hard maple. DSI meets the supply needs of cabinet … Perhaps you’ve seen a type of lumber for sale known as “soft maple,” and were wondering: what’s the difference between between this Soft Maple and Hard Maple? Other hard maples turning pale blue/green: Other soft maples turning pale blue/green (false positives): Under most circumstances, it’s usually possible to determine with a fair degree of certainty whether any given piece of wood is hard or soft maple using all the previous tips; yet it can be nearly impossible to determine the exact species of soft maple just by looking at the wood, or even weighing it. This means that the total volume is 144 cubic inches, since 24 x 8 x .75 = 144. What species of wood is this box? Just how soft is it? It also gives a better paint surface due to its hardness. The brown darkens slightly with the grey stain while the blonde portion looks truly grey. There is a baseball field across the street and the front of my house is on the south side of the street… across the field on the next street most houses got Red Maples. However, some online retailers like Amazon have the chemical for sale in much smaller quantities. I don’t know what it is about European woods, but good data is very hard to come by. If blotching is a concern, try a light seal coat to even it out. Painted cabinets and cabinet doors are timeless and beautiful, and based on the number of painted displays at the 2016 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, they are extremely popular across all price … Hard maple (1,450 lb f janka… Also what tropical equivalent is to Honduran Mahogany, Rosewood and Ebony?Thanks in advance. It’s possible for soft maple to have tighter growth rings, but it’s much less likely for hard maple to have widely spaced growth rings on the endgrain (3/8″ or more). https://www.geigenbauonline.com/violinmaking-The-Making-of-a-Violin.html, Another video I liked (showing the wood): https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0fUixINRBZY#at=116. Easily worked. Yet since everyone’s fingernails and strength is different, this should only be considered a very crude means of testing when other methods/tools are not available. The main instances where you would want to stick with hard maple would be in applications where hardness and strength are important, such as: butcher blocks, flooring, workbench tops, etc. If the sinus comes to a sharp “V” the tree is a hard maple. The hard maple you buy should be 99% white sapwood. Sapwood color ranges from almost white, to a light golden or reddish brown, while the heartwood is a darker reddish brown. Fluorescence: A Secret Weapon in Wood Identification, Bow Woods (from a mathematical perspective), Brazilian Rosewood, East Indian, and Other Rosewoods, Genuine Lignum Vitae and Argentine Lignum Vitae, BOOK: WOOD! Even if a board is technically from a “soft” maple species from a biological standpoint, if it happens to be as dense as hard maple, then the point is moot (as it will also be as hard as true hard maple as well). Below is a chart showing illustrations (and some scans) of maple leaves of various species, along with descriptions of their size and characteristics. I got it backwards. For anyone interested in maple syrup, Cornell has a nice guide for beginners. It seems most builders want wood that has less density for better workability and acoustical performance. In addition to these two main woods, different species of maple and other lookalikes (such as birch, dogwood, etc.) Hard maple is also known as rock maple or sugar maple, (this is the same tree which is tapped to get maple syrup). Can figured maple (quilted, curly, birdseye) be either hard or soft? Simply weigh the wood in question, and then carefully measure all dimensions to find its total volume. To achieve such refinement in identification, one of the best things to do is look at the leaves of the maple tree in question. But studies on Stradivari family of violins suggest that the wood used was much denser due to the cold weather at that time. The trouble is—for whatever reason—I can’t seem to find any reliable information on the wood! Remember, Volume equals Length x Width x Height: (V = L x W x H). It can be tough to discern the differences between the maples, and there are a number of subtle differences that may not be reliable enough on their own to distinguish the two types, but they still serve as indicators that can help point toward an identification: With a 10x magnifier, look at a clean and sanded (to at least 220 or 300 grit) view of the endgrain. Sanding is also a bit more of a problem w/ soft maple for the same reason. Physical Properties. Hard maple, based on simple outward appearances, looks very similar to soft maple, and in general is tough to tell apart in finished pieces. I did not see any mention of sugar content in the different maples listed. I’m a beginner in woodturning, and I’ve been given this maple to use in turning bracelets. In a related matter, I have an architectural spec calling up material for a large run of cabinets as "hardwood" and in the subsequent color schedule as "maple". All maples can be tapped. Hard maple has one size of ray while soft maple has two. The bark of this tree has green, white, and/or brown vertical stripes along the trunk. Directions: Stir in ferrous sulfate and allow to stand for several minutes. Thanks. They both have their uses, my painted cabinets are all soft maple… Poplar would dent very easily. is the picture still available as i am not able to see it on this forum? With hard maple, virtually no dent should be left with your fingernail, yet soft maple will be more likely to be dented. It’s a lot harder and more stable than poplar, while costing roughly the same. Strong enough to work with and last. Ferrous sulfate, sometimes called iron sulfate, may be obtained locally through chemical supply stores, but it is typically only sold in bulk quantities, making such a small project prohibitively expensive. Even though it is referred to as soft maple, it is only soft in relation to hard maple. The test measures the amount of force required to embed a .444″ diameter steel ball halfway into the wood. The soft maple often comes in about 50-75% white … It is lighter in color than cherry and has a more subtle grain pattern. … I have 2 different leaves! The cabinets have glass doors with narrow little frames so I would rather use the soft maple for reasons of warpage. Now it may look like hard maple is heads and tails above the rest (and to a certain extent, it is), but for reference, black cherry has a janka hardness of 950 lbf (the same as red maple), and black walnut is rated at 1,010 lbf. Since there was no contract and you asked for maple not … Hey I’m curious about bigleaf maples; I make pipes and walking sticks and i’m wanting to know if it will be 1. Depending on where you live, different species might be sold as soft maple. … Whether you have hard or soft maple, the “best finish” is just the one that suits your project and … (And just as citizens of both the east coast and the west coast each like to assert the superiority of their own respective region, there is almost a rivalry between bigfleaf maple advocates on the west coast, and red maple fans on the east coast.). Leaves typically have either 5 or 7 lobes, with vivid autumn coloring ranging from yellow to purplish red. I have no idea what type of tree etc,just want to feed and treat my beautiful floor thanks. Soft Maple … So multiplying things out, we find that our board is 42 pounds per 1728 cubic inches (or one cubic foot). Janka hardness has been shown to be directly related to density. If a completely saturated solution of ferrous sulfate is applied to the wood surface and allowed to dry, a layer of pale crystallized material will be deposited, obscuring the color results on the wood surface beneath. Are these characteristics of maple, or are there different species of maple? The main instances where you would want to stick with hard maple would be in applications where hardness and strength are important, such as: butcher blocks, flooring, workbench tops, etc. Leaves have deep notches between the lobes which help to tell them apart from the shallower notches of hard maple. In my opinion, getting an accurate density value is the best way to practically evaluate maple. 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