What's the deal with soft maple?


rodger.

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So I am currently building 7 kitchen drawers (3 of which are large pot drawers) and elected to go with solid maple. I decided that I would go soft maple, as the selection at my dealer was better in the soft than hard maple (and the price was about half).

Anyways, while working it for the first time, I noticed some inconsistency. Some boards are quite dense and heavy, while others are quite light. Some are very much like hard maple (white, heavy) while others are much more like brown maple. Others are reminiscent of poplars density, and I had to do a double take more than once to ensure that I didn't grab a stick of poplar by mistake.

Any "maple-ites" out there shed some light on the situation?

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There are numerous threads on the ‘The Maples’ on WTO -- several by me... Google is your friend...

 

If you like, here's the Wood Database Entry: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/differences-between-hard-maple-and-soft-maple/

 

 

Summary: The Soft and Hard Maple are categories, not species. You’re in Ontario so Hard Maple usually maps to Sugar (the species on the Canadian Flag -- Go Figure). Soft Maple is a bit broader – in the East, Soft typically maps to Red Maple (which can be harder and denser than some of the Hard Maples --- cute, eh?). In the West, typically Big Leaf... Around Ontario, I bet Soft Maple contains a mix of Silver, Red and some others just to confuse things).

 

 

Important: Don’t mix Hard and Soft unless you know what you are doing – they don’t take finish the same... Mixing species in Soft can also be problematic... If you can, keep show faces from the same species... If you must mix, test your finishes.

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Thinking about your project...

 

I'd select one stick (or as few as possible that are very similar) for just the drawer fronts, panels, whatever -- i.e., the show surfaces... If you need multiple sticks, test scraps from each to verify finish is the same on all show surfaces -- before you build anything... So make the boxes from the rest of the stock... The insides are never seen, so how they take finish (assuming you want to finish the insides of drawers, but that's another thread) doesn't really matter... Then makes the fronts (show surfaces) from the sticks you put aside that all look/feel (and take finish) the same.

 

Good Luck.

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Thinking about your project...

I'd select one stick (or as few as possible that are very similar) for just the drawer fronts, panels, whatever -- i.e., the show surfaces... If you need multiple sticks, test scraps from each to verify finish is the same on all show surfaces -- before you build anything... The insides are never seen, so how they take finish (assuming you want to finish the insides of drawers, but that's another thread) doesn't really matter...

Most of the drawers can be made from a single board each, so that's good. The larger ones, maybe not, but I'll stick the non matching board on the front, behind the false front (5 piece drawer).

All the front are from the existing kitchen, so all I am building is the drawer boxes. Otherwise, I prob would have went hard maple for consistency.

Thanks for the suggestion and info!

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