Maple

Maple (Acer spp./Aceraceae). The genus Acer (Maples) is comprised of about 120 species native to temperate and sub tropical regions of the globe. Maples attain heights of 120 ft with diameters of 3 ft. Some large, trees in natural forests may have clear trunks of 60 ft. The woods can be separated into soft maple and hard maple groups based on hardness and microscopic ray width. Maple sapwood is white to light brown, while the heartwood is a light red-brown. The species in the Hard Maple Group have fine, uniform texture that is easy to work w/ power tools. It is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock, and it has large shrinkage. Sugar maple is generally straight grained but the grain also occurs as “birds-eye,” “curly,” and “fiddleback” grain. The wood of Hard Maple is hard and heavy and the color of the wood can range from white to reddish brown. It has a fine, uniform texture that turns well and is resistant to shock and abrasion. The grain can be straight, curly, wavy or bird's eye. Wood of the Soft Maple Group is similar to wood of the Hard Maple Group, but it is less heavy, strong and hard. Maple wood works well with most tools under most applications. It is rated as slightly or nonresistant to heartwood decay and is moderately resistant to penetration with preservatives. It is used for bowling alleys, bowling pins, boxes and crates, crossties, cutting blocks, dance floors, distillation, flooring, furniture, handles, lumber, novelties, pallets, paper pulp, piano frames, pulpwood, shoe lasts, spools and bobbins, turnery, veneer, and woodenware.

http://www.inter-statehardwoods.com/Hardwoods/Soft-Maple.aspx.

Characteristics found in the Maple (Acer spp.):

• Diffuse porous
• Spirals on vessels Fine
• I/V pits medium (8-12)
• Rays 1-8 seriate & homocellular
• Hard Maple Group with few/no rays 2-3 wide

WOOD SLIDES
Click on each image to view a larger image.

Hard Maple

Tangential section of Hard Maple   Group (Acer sp.) showing a   preponderance of uniseriate rays   and wide rays, 5 – 6 seriate.

Soft Maple

Tangential section of Soft Maple   Group (Acer sp.) showing many   rays that are 2 – 3 seriate.

CHARCOAL SLIDES

Hard Maple

Soft Maple