Glacial Species & Grades

Soft Maple

Other Common Names: Scarlet Maple, Swamp Maple, Carolina Red Maple, Drummond Red Maple, Water Maple. Soft Maple is grown in both the Glacial and Appalachian regions. Soft Maple is less dense than Hard Maple with similar grain and figure. The sapwood in the soft maples is considerably wider than that in the hard maples and has a lighter heartwood color. Soft Maple is used for furniture, kitchen cabinets, doors, musical instruments, turnings and millwork. It is lower priced than Hard Maple and sometimes used as a substitute. Both Soft Maple and Hard Maple can be purchased in special white color pulls. Soft Maple is also used in veneer, pallets, plywood, barrels, crates and flooring.

Properties

  • Machining4
  • Nailing4
  • Screwing4
  • Gluing4
  • Finishing5

Properties of Soft Maple

Soft Maple is neither as strong or hard as Hard Maple. It has good machining properties, turning and planing quite well.

How does it compare

Lumber
(12 % moisture content)
Specific Gravity
(Density)
Dimensional
R
(%)
Movement
T
(%)
Hardness
(lbs)
Compression
Parallel
(ps)
Bending
Strength
(ps)
Bending
Stiffness
(kps)
Grain
Alder, Red (Western).414.47.35905,8209,8001,380Fine
Ash.604.97.81,3207,41015,4001,770Fine
Basswood.376.69.34104,7308,7001,460Fine
Beech.645.511.91,3007,30014,9001,720Fine/Medium
Birch, Yellow.627.39.51,2608,17016,6002,010Fine
Cherry, Black.503.77.19507,11012,3001,490Mod/Coarse
Hickory.664.98.91,8207,85013,7001,730Mod/Coarse
Maple, Hard.634.89.91,4507,83015,8001,830Fine
Maple, PC .483.77.18505,95010,7001,450Fine
Maple, Soft.473.07.27005,2208,9001,140Fine
Oak, Red.634.08.61,2906,76014,3001,820Coarse
Oak, White.684.48.81,3607,44015,2001,780Mod/Coarse
Poplar, Yellow.424.68.24505,2909,2001,500Fine
Walnut, Black.555.57.81,0107,58014,6001,680Medium