jab73180 Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 For all the botanists out there. Is norway maple hard....soft.......crap.......furniture caliber?? Ive heard that some kinds of maple arent worth a pile of firewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hard to say. Wiki says that it's "hard" and used for furniture, but it's impossible to know what the author's definition of "hard" is. I couldn't find its ranking on the Janka scale anywhere. It's gotta be good enough for secondary wood, at least. I'd take it if it's available to you for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 You need to search for specific gravity. Soft maples will be .54 and below the higher the specific gravity the harder the wood. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWC Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 You should use the Janka scale. It's the wood equivalent of Rockwell hardness for metal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test The research I found indicates Norway maple is good for furniture and has been used in musical instruments for many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 I doubt you will find it on any of the janka scale references. Euro woods tend to use specific gravity. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardura Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flooring/msg1200155110578.html http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lauvtrebruk.no%2Fpages%2F15 In Norwegian maple is translated to "lønn" which translates to english "salary". So in the table for "Salary" you will find some numbers in a metric format. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paoloberno Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I have no exact data about norway maple but it should be similar to sycamore maple somewhat slightly softer (being faster growing). In europe we have three main maple species: acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple), acer platanoides (norway maple) and acer campestre (field maple). Sycamore is widely used for timber with a hardness slightly lower than hard maple, norway maple is usually mixed with sycamore being very similar and field maple is a very small tree used for the best musical instruments (harder than hard maple) but useless for timber due to small size. P.S. The english name is norway maple but it's not so common in norway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jab73180 Posted January 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I have no exact data about norway maple but it should be similar to sycamore maple somewhat slightly softer (being faster growing). In europe we have three main maple species: acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple), acer platanoides (norway maple) and acer campestre (field maple). Sycamore is widely used for timber with a hardness slightly lower than hard maple, norway maple is usually mixed with sycamore being very similar and field maple is a very small tree used for the best musical instruments (harder than hard maple) but useless for timber due to small size. P.S. The english name is norway maple but it's not so common in norway thank you sir, i guess that answers my question. i have a 30" log about 12' long to saw up. i will saw out enough big timber to make a nice sized workbench (roubo maybe) and the rest will be boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paoloberno Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 You have a beautiful log, i'd cut some big slabs to use them as tabletops, cut and dry it quickly after the logging because maples lose the white color Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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