Norway Maple (confirm or deny)

[Jonathan Harvey]

I was told by the arborist that this was Norway maple. I've never seen Norway maple with heartwood like this before. I turned a piece this weekend and it is a very soft wood and I thought that norway was a hard wood? Anyways I scored a whole lot of it on Friday so I'm happy just want to identify the tree.

Thoughts?

[Nathan Hawkes]

Its kinda hard to tell from the leaf picture. How many lobes?

[Jonathan Harvey]

Its kinda hard to tell from the leaf picture. How many lobes?


Sorry there were only three leaves still attached to the tree when I got it home. but I've looked and it have five lobes. Not sure if that helps. I figure it's either a Norway or a sugar maple but it just seems to soft of a wood when turning to be either of these. That being said it has rained here almost non stop for the last week maybe the increase in moisture in the tree it seems softer. It's a huge long shot :D and I don't even believe it myself :D

[Bob Bergstrom]

Looks a like a Norway to me

[Nathan Hawkes]

If its only five, chances are its a sugar maple. If it has seven, its a norway.

[James Combs]

Looks like a fine haul in any case. Congrats.

[alex carey]

dunno what it is but i like the heard wood.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I was told by the arborist that this was Norway maple. I've never seen Norway maple with heartwood like this before. I turned a piece this weekend and it is a very soft wood and I thought that norway was a hard wood? Anyways I scored a whole lot of it on Friday so I'm happy just want to identify the tree.

Thoughts?

Jonathan that is exactly what a Norway Maple looks like, the big dark heart isn't always there, usually that will occur because of some damage that happened to the tree before, but a small greenish brown streak in the pith area is very common, as in my experience.

I got a picture here from a Norway Maple that I turned a bowl from that has the dark heart and was good enough for a second price in the London woodturners competition.

Have fun and take care :D

[Jonathan Harvey]

Thanks for the responses guys. I guess well go with Norway Maple then. It is not a very hard hard wood but is nice to turn.

Great Bowl there Leo, I see why it was awarded a ribbon.

[Jeff Nicol]

Here is a picture of a norway maple and it looks pretty much like what you have. Leo is right on the money as he turns a lot of it. It is softer than sugar maple and rock maple but is harder than silver maple and red maple. No matter what if it was free or cheap that is the best !

Jeff

[Ralph Lindberg]

Johnathan

If that was Big Leaf or Vine Maple I would say the heartwood had just started to rot, that is the color we get on those two early in the "getting ill and ready to die" stage

[Reed Gray]

Any maple can get that coloring in the heart wood, and is usually a sign of the tree starting to rot. Smell is a big indicator here, kind of sour smell. I have a tree in my front yard that my arborist said is a Norway maple, and the leaves are a dark red, almost purple. He said it is a Norway maple. I thought it was red maple.

robo hippy

[Matt Newton]

The easy way to tell if a tree is Norway maple is listen to it's accent.:D Really if you pull a leaf off the tree and the sap is milky, not clear, it is a norway maple. If the leaves were dark purple in the spring, it is a variety called Crimson King.

[Reed Gray]

Reminds me of a bumper sticker, "you can tell a Norwegian, but you can't tell them much". I thought that should apply to us Irish.

robo hippy