S.Maple vs H.Maple

[Jim Summers]

Hello All,

I am getting ready to start a new project that involves trying to color match the finish on an existing table.

The table is made of maple and the new tables and bookcases will also be made of maple. I am planning on using soft maple as opposed to hard maple. It seems to be the cost effective route to go and availability and such.

My plan is to practice the finishing phase first. The deal is, I have some hard maple to practice with. So, I was wondering if the properties of soft maple vs. hard maple are similar enough that I can do my sanding routine, dyeing and finishing on the hard maple I have and be pretty confident that it will be the same when I do it on soft maple?


TIA,
jim

[Howard Acheson]

Buy your stock now and make up your samples using the stock you will build with. Soft maple will color differently than hard maple. Also, wood from different trees of the same species frequently will color differently.

The only way to do a match is to use the wood you are going to build with.