Hardwood 101 – Hard Maple Lumber

Hard Maple Lumber
Hard Maple is a tried and true hardwood of choice for many woodworkers.

Hard maple sapwood is nearly white and its heartwood is a uniform, delicate, very light reddish-brown or very light tan. It has a fine, even texture. It is very strong and hard, with close straight grains. Hard maple can sometimes be wavy or curly, which produces special figures such as ‘Bird’s Eye Maple’ and ‘Curly Hard Maple.’ The figuring in Bird’s Eye has brownish dots on a whitish background.

With a Janka hardness of 1450, hard maple is ranked as one of the more valuable hardwoods because of its strength and stiffness. It has great wood working properties and is used for a variety of different projects. Hard maple has good crushing strength and bending properties, and very good steam bending qualities. It has above average fire resistance and glue adheres satisfactorily. It takes stain well and gives an excellent result with paint or enamel, and finishes smoothly.

Hard maple is well suited for furniture, interior trim, turnery, paneling, cabinetry, veneer, tool handles, woodenware, musical instruments, and bowling pins. It is popularly used for heavy duty flooring, and is used for dance floors, bowling alleys, and skating rinks. Figured grain hard maple is used for decorative cabinetry.

Check out how important hard maple wood has been in the sports industry. It was used in 1891 for the very first basketball court and is still used today for sports flooring!

When it comes to a great domestic wood, maple has the qualities you look for in lumber, including the range of figuring present in the different species. Go to our website for additional information on Hard Maple and Curly Hard Maple wood. There you can also find Hard Maple, Curly Hard Maple, and Bird’s Eye Maple lumber.

1 thought on “Hardwood 101 – Hard Maple Lumber”

  1. I am building a lamp and need a square base which measures approximately 12x12x2″ Do you sell lumber like this?
    Martin

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