Maple

Appearance

Color: Heartwood is creamy white to light reddish brown; sapwood is pale to creamy white.

Grain: Closed, subdued grain, with medium figuring and uniform texture. Occasionally shows quilted, fiddleback, curly or bird’s-eye figuring. Figured boards often culled during grading and sold at a premium.

Variations Within Species And Grades: Black maple (B. nigrum) is also hard; other species are classified as soft.

Properties

Hardness/Janka: Janka: 1450; (12% harder than Northern red oak).

Dimensional Stability: Average (9.9; 15% less stable than red oak).