Appalachian Species & Grades

Soft Maple

Other Common Names: Scarlet Maple, Swamp Maple, Carolina Red Maple, Drummond Red Maple, Water Maple NWH’s 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

  • Machining8
  • Nailing5
  • Screwing5
  • Gluing9
  • Finishing10

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)
MachiningSandingFinishingGluingFastening/
Nailing/
Screwing
Weight
per bdft
Specific
Gravity
(Density)
Hardness
(Janka)
Bending
Strength
(MOR)
Bending
Stiffness
(MOE)
Dimensional
Movement
(Shrinkage)
R (%)
Dimensional
Movement
(Shrinkage)
T (%)
Alder101010972.45.415909,8001,3804.47.3
Ash9109863.56.611,32015,0001,7404.97.8
Basswood10109882.50.374108,7001,4606.69.3
Beech8810883.69.641,26014,9001,7205.511.9
Birch10810823.53.621,26016,6002,0107.39.5
Cherry10910973.07.5295012,3001,4903.77.1
Hickory377334.14.671,82013,7001,7304.98.9
Hard Maple9810943.73.641,45015,8001,8304.89.9
PC Maple9910952.74.5085010,7001,4503.77.1
Soft Maple8910953.19.5595013,4001,6404.08.2
Red Oak (Northern)10109973.64.631,22014,3801,7614.08.6
White Oak9109773.94.681,35014,3801,7624.48.8
Poplar9810962.81.4354010,1001,5804.68.2
Walnut989773.36.561,01014,6001,6805.57.8