American Soft Maple

American Soft Maple

Acer rubrum (Red Maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)

The heartwood is a light to medium brown color. The sapwood can be very wide, and tends to be a beige or light brown; not always clearly or sharply demarcated from heartwood. The wood is generally straight-grained with a coarse uniform texture. In most respects, soft maple is very similar to hard maple except 25% softer. The term “Soft Maple” does not refer to any specific species of maple, but rather, it’s a broad term which includes several different species of maple such as:

• Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
• Box Elder (Acer negundo)
• Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
• Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
• Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum)

Wormy Maple or Ambrosia Maple is common to our Ohio Valley area and is caused by the Ambrosia beetle that carries a fungus on its legs as it bores through the living wood. The resulting tiny holes and surrounding elongated discolorations are sometimes combed with curly figure.  The wood is thoroughly sanitized during the kiln drying process leaving the uniquely beautiful natural wormy character.

Other Names

Red Maple, Silver Maple, Box Elder, Scarlet Maple, Swamp Maple, and Water Maple.

Distribution

Throughout Eastern U.S., and to a lesser extent on the West Coast Big Leaf Maple). Average tree height is 60 to 80 feet.

Availability

Affordable and readily available.

American Soft Maple

Acer rubrum (Red Maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)

Soft maple is used commercially on a small scale for maple syrup production as well as for its medium to high quality lumber.

The wood is commonly used in furniture, cabinet making and joinery as well as doors, kitchen cabinets and for turning and mouldings. It is also used smaller items, such as musical instruments, wooden boxes, clothespins and hangers.

Soft maple is often used as a substitute for hard maple or stained to resemble other species such as cherry. It’s physical and working properties also make it a possible substitute for beech.

American Soft Maple

Acer rubrum (Red Maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)

The American pioneers traditionally used red maple tree bark to create black and brown dyes and inks.

Soft Maple is the state tree of Rhode Island.

American Soft Maple

Acer rubrum (Red Maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)

Native Americans used the sap of soft maples to make sugar, as medicine, and in bread. They used the wood to make baskets and furniture. An infusion of bark removed from the south side of the tree is still used by the Mohegan for cough medicine.

Charcoal is often made from soft maple.

American Soft Maple

Acer rubrum (Red Maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)

Soft maple is excellent to machine, bore, plane and finish. It turns, glues, planes, drills and carves well but screwing and nailing is only fair. Soft maple can easily be sanded, stained and polished to a fine and smooth finish, and has good steam bending properties.

It dries slowly with minimal degrade and there is little movement in performance.

Janka Rating: 950