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Figured Maple
Same species as Soft Maple. Resembles Hard Maple being closed-grained but much softer. Easily worked. Turns and planes well. Does not require fillers to achieve a glass smooth finish. The curls appearing across the board are the result of contortions in the grain that reflect light at different angles.
Length: Not specified
Thickness: Hit and miss to 15/16 inches
- Common Name(s): Figured Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer saccharum
- Distribution: Northeastern North America
- Tree Size: 80-115 ft (25-35 m) tall, 2-3 ft (0.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
- Average Dried Weight: 44.0 lbs/ft³ (705 kg/m³)
- Janka Hardness: 1,450 lbf (6,450 N)
- Crushing Strength: 7,830 lbf/in² (54.0 MPa)
Heartwood: Tends to be a darker reddish brown.
Sapwood: Ranges from nearly white to an off-white cream color, sometimes with a reddish or golden hue.
Grain: Generally straight but may be wavy as seen in these figured boards.
Texture: Fine, even texture with moderate natural luster.
Rated as non-durable to perishable and susceptible to insect attack.
Fairly easy to work with both hand and machine tools though slightly more difficult than soft maple due to hard maple’s higher density. Maple has a tendency to burn when being machined with high-speed cutters such as in a router. Turns, glues, and finishes well though blotches can occur when staining; using a pre-conditioner, gel stain, or toner may be necessary to get an even color.
- Flooring (from basketball courts and dance-floors to bowling alleys and residential)
- Veneer
- Musical instruments
- Cutting boards, butcher blocks, and workbenches
- Baseball bats and other turned objects
- Specialty wood items
In tree form, hard maple is usually referred to as sugar maple and is the tree most often tapped for maple syrup. (It’s also the state tree in four different states in the US.) Also called rock maple, its wood may be fairly considered as the king of the Acer genus. Its wood is stronger, stiffer, harder, and denser than all other species of maple commercially available in lumber form.