Hard Maple and Soft Maple

[UglySteve]

Hey everyone,

What are the differences between hard and soft maple? I understand from some woodworkers that soft maple takes stain better and is easier on blades. My current project wont be using any stain, rather an amber shellac with a polyurethane top coat. If I can use soft maple along with my hard maple, i may be able to save my expensive blades some undue stress.

Thanks

[Onboard]

Steve, here are two forum posts that I hope will get you started. There are a lot of awesome woodworkers in the WTO community so hopefully you’ll see their comments soon.

Forum Post #1

Forum Post #2

Hey everyone,

What are the differences between hard and soft maple? I understand from some woodworkers that soft maple takes stain better and is easier on blades. My current project wont be using any stain, rather an amber shellac with a polyurethane top coat. If I can use soft maple along with my hard maple, i may be able to save my expensive blades some undue stress.

Thanks