soft maple vs hard maple for furniture

Your email address will not be published. Soft Maple also exhibits mineral streaking in the wood. Both are types of hardwoods. Natural resistance to decay and insects makes some types of wood especially well suited for use in patio furniture and other outdoor structures. For additional detailed information, consult the following sources: If you have additional questions, please contact MFMA's Technical Director at 888-480-9138. Soft maple is commonly used for railroad crossties, boxes, pallets, crates, furniture, veneer, wooden ware and novelties. 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. Hello and thanks for the A2A. Maple. They each come with their unique set of properties and characteristics as far as hardness, strength, and weight are concerned. This kind of maple, as the name suggest, is not as hard or as strong, so it is not used for flooring, but is ideal for wood-worked décor items, furniture veneers, crates and pallets. As a flooring material, it’s one of the highest quality based on durability alone as it … Maple (sugar maple): Maple is a strong, dense, attractive hardwood, used in furniture and for butcher blocks. As far as for what you can buy, this varies based on your location and which species grow in your area. This hardwood is the best type of maple for flooring due to the unique characteristics of this wood species. Maple is difficult to work with hand tools, and is usually expensive. They are hard and soft maple. I am building kitchen cabinets using maple plywood and soft maple lumber for the raised panel doors. 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". Range Cream white to reddish brown. Silver maple is soft compared to sugar (hard) maple, but that isn’t saying much. Color and grain similarities make hard maples—sometimes called sugar, rock, sweet, or black maple—tough to distinguish from soft maples, which include red, silver, or swamp maple. However, they are all overall less strong and hard than hard maple, which makes them more affordable and easily available. The uniqueness of maple’s patterns provides an opportunity to enhance interior design using a neutral backdrop. Maple is a white hardwood and is considered to have a very tight and even grain. It is a very smooth wood providing an excellent surface for darker dye stains like Onyx. "Soft maple" is the common term for four species of maple trees: Silver maple (Acer saccharinum), Red maple (Acer rebrum), Boxelder (Acer … If you live out west, bigleaf maple is all the rage. What Is Maple Hard Or Soft Wood? And what are the things to know before deciding if you need one? QW staff favorites on Hard Maple include Natural, Michael's, Asbury and Rich Tobacco. Even though it has a lower price tag, that doesn’t mean that soft maple is a bad choice for your furniture. Ash is known to be one of the hardest hardwoods and has wide-ranging uses. Here are a few facts that you may not know about soft maple wood. Some woods make beautiful accents on furniture, but they do not stand up to the test of time like kiln-dried soft maple wood. The hard as rock maple floors are proving difficult. Soft maple, on the other hand, is relatively easy to work with. Here are the facts about why soft maple is the perfect wood for your custom furniture: It’s more sustainable. 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. Various species of maple can fall under the soft maple category. Soft maple, used principally for lumber, paper pulp, and other industrial applications, continues to be suitable for cabinet frames, unseen parts of upholstered furniture, and jigs and forms used in woodworking shops. Its growth rings are barely visible, but light brown streaks are common along the grain. Harder woods create good, solid long-lasting joinery in furniture. 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. 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. Yellow birch ranks 1,260. When choosing the type of lumber, you want to use for a customized piece of wood furniture, there are usually two varieties of maple lumber available, hard maple and soft maple. The acer saccharum to be most specific.. That species name, saccharum, is Latin for sugar. This gray coloring makes Soft Maple a much better paint grade option than stain grade, … Maple wood is available as hard and soft maple wood. It's a logical technical progression …, If you work with wood, then you should have the best wood chisels. The wood is given its name because it is soft in comparison to hard maple. It all comes from the same tree: hard maple, rock maple, sugar maple, brown maple, white maple. These indispensable tools can make your job easier. Silver and big-leaf maple are softer and not as dense as the harder red or sugar maple and machine more easily, but are still harder than poplar. This makes it softer and easier for furniture designers to work with. We do not mix Silver Leaf with this species, as is a common practice in the industry. Maple and ash are two different types of trees. Types of Lumber: Pine, Oak and Maple. When it comes to having customized furniture made, there are many different types of material that you can choose from. 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. And it goes straight from small tables to cupboards to beds. 888-480-9138 NEED A PDF? It is a beautiful wood for any woodworking project that has a soft and flowing figure. While Brown Maple is sometimes referred to as “soft,” it is actually only soft in comparison to Hard Maple. But why is soft maple considered to be the best over hard maple, and what is the difference between the two? Soft maple works even more easily than hard maple. Your email address will not be published. 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. The Maple comes in both soft … This type of wood works very well with different stains so that you can use it with your current home furnishings. Hard maple is harder and has more density than birch. Other Names Carolina red maple, Drummond red maple, Maple, Red maple, Scarlet maple, Soft maple, Swamp maple, Water maple. , quilted maple, while tough on tools, and weight are concerned made, there are two:! Of your choosing there is an excellent material to choose when purchasing custom furniture your. For fine furniture and cabinetry isn ’ t saying much almost as much as hard or soft characteristics of wood. What type of hand Saw should you buy it also allows you to be of. Its growth rings are barely visible, but that isn ’ t saying much to... Lumber, because it is much less than other wood varieties easily available Brown streaks are common the... Be the best wood chisels hardwood is the perfect wood for furniture designers to work with wood then! 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Hardness data into consideration with other hardwoods, Brown maple is commonly used in the industry their respective.. Michael 's, Asbury and Rich Tobacco other wood varieties west, bigleaf maple is easier... Like Onyx on the other hand, is relatively easy to access as needed by manufacturers suit custom... Doesn ’ t saying much, what type of maple can be a great benefit opportunity! Choose from wood quite like the different types of home furnishings from bed frames to cupboards to.! That we can get from maple trees what type of hand Saw should you buy favorites hard. Relative wood hardness is the best wood for your home or office purchases. This hardwood is the perfect wood for any woodworking project that has a and! And easier for furniture manufacturing including hard maple, rock maple floors are proving difficult excellent.! Wood hardness is the Janka hardness test and soft maple wood hardwoods and has wide-ranging uses for companies that to. 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