Soft Maple, Hard Maple

[Mike OMelia]

How soft is soft maple? I mean, compared to pine, or poplar, etc. Is it good for furniture type projects, or should I go with hard maple? Where I can buy it, not a huge price difference.

Mike

[Derek Gilmer]

Here is the janka hardness scale to get you an idea of where the different maples fall. http://tinytimbers.com/janka.htm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test)

[Prashun Patel]

For 'furniture' the hardness difs between hard and soft maple - and most hardwoods is going to be inconsequential.

Soft maple, though, can have some discoloration which people may find undesirable, so it tends to be used in less visible parts of the project - as poplar might.

[Jerome Hanby]

Soft maple is only soft compared to hard maple :D

At the lumber yard I frequent for hardwoods, their test to tell hard maple from soft is to try to slice into it with a utility knife. If it doesn't even dent, it's hard maple.

[Mike Zilis]

I'm partial to soft maple for my projects. It's plenty hard for furniture and cabinetry of all kinds. I also like the character in soft maple that comes from mineral deposits - and then there's "wormy" maple with all sorts of cool streaks in it. Regular hard maple has a very generic white look and of course it's harder to work with tools.

Mike

[sunny nic]

Soft maple is only soft compared to hard maple :D

At the lumber yard I frequent for hardwoods, their test to tell hard maple from soft is to try to slice into it with a utility knife. If it doesn't even dent, it's hard maple.

yup, that's the difference.

[Mike OMelia]

What about Ash? My hardwood store seeems to be low on maple. Cherry is scary pricewise! This is for a toybox project (I did a drawing of it in the sketchup thread)

[Buck Williams]

Ash would be an excellent choice, if it's for a toy box it'll take a beating. Looking at the web page link above regarding hardenss of woods, it ranks right up there with white and red oak. I'd choose it over soft maple for just about anything. One of my favorites, and often a bargain. I used to brew my own beer and ash has a smell when you're cutting it, that reminds me of the sweet smell of mashing barley malts.

[Prashun Patel]

I made a toy box out of ash. It's a fine choice - IF you like the grain pattern. Like oak, it is prominent. But it's a great - if not a little on the heavy side. Stains easier than maple.

[Danny Hamsley]

Soft maple has about the same density as black walnut, and is a little denser than cherry. Those are two pretty fine furniture woods if you ask me, so soft maple is not really soft when it comes to top of the line furniture woods.

[Rich Aldrich]

What about Ash? My hardwood store seeems to be low on maple. Cherry is scary pricewise! This is for a toybox project (I did a drawing of it in the sketchup thread)

Ash is really nice looking and durable. If you like oak, but don't like the porosity of oak, stain ash with oak stain and it looks like non-porous oak.

Soft maple really makes nice turnings..... sorry i mentioned turning if this category is for flat work only.:eek::D

[scott spencer]

I like ash better than oak or plain maple. The grain patterns can be really nice, it's strong, takes a stain well, and it works beautifully.

[Clint Olver]

I use soft maple for drawers and cabinet doors. It's easier to route and weighs a little less than hard maple, while still being plenty strong. Ash is a great wood to work with as well. It has a very similar finished look to oak, usually costs less, and doesn't burn as easily when you are working it. I'm currently building a custom closet built-in out of ash - the dovetailed drawer boxes (20 of them) will be soft maple.

C

[Mike OMelia]

Thanks all, I went with soft maple. Will plan on working with ash in the future. Turns out the hardwood store had plenty on hand.

[David Helm]

What exactly are you guys calling soft maple? In the Northwest, Western Big Leaf Maple is native. It is softer than the eastern maples but is one of the most magnificent figured woods around. It is used for solid body guitars and many other things where the figure is hilighted. I use it for live edge furniture, counter tops, window sills etc. I've been reading the words "soft maple" on this forum for some time and have never known what you all mean.

[Chris Fournier]

These best way to determine one woods "hardness" relative to anothers is to look at the known specific gravity of the wood species. A terrific book for woodworkers is World Woods In Colour by William A. Lincoln. Great colur plates and tons of information including specific gravity - not cheap but worth every penny.

David, hard maple is usually a term used for Acer saccharum, sugar maple or rock maple. Soft maple is used to refer to all the other maples including your spectacular bigleaf maple.

[Buck Williams]

In the Eastern half of the US, Silver Maple (Acer Saccharum L) is what is typically sold as soft maple. It's fast growing and thus offers up some nice wide cuts if you need them. Usually a bargain wood in the upper Mid-West.

http://www.mapleinfo.org/htm/silver.cfm

[Danny Hamsley]

Red maple (Acer rubrum) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum) are the soft maples in the east. Red maple is very nice to work with.

[Chris Fournier]

Red maple (Acer rubrum) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum) are the soft maples in the east. Red maple is very nice to work with.

Yeah, in my experience red maple is the nicest of our eastern softs although the silvers can surprise you.