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Maple wood
Maple wood properties
What is the use of a Maple tree? What are some properties of Maple trees? This wood’s color is a very nice complement for many interior design choices. Maple wood is known for its creamy white to reddish brown color, with even to unique grain patterns, as well as its exceptional smoothness when sanded.
Maple wood smoothness
Maple wood for furniture
Walnut is a medium-density strong, durable, stable hardwood that is widely used for making for furniture, cabinetry and interior flooring. Walnut is also used to make gunstocks and musical instruments including guitars and pianos.
Walnut is a durable choice for furniture but is somewhat softer than other hardwoods such as Oak, Cherry and Maple. We do not recommend Walnut for surfaces that will receive significant wear such as for desks, table tops, desktops and children’s and pet furniture.
Walnut is less insect-resistant than other hardwoods such as Oak or Maple. If you live in an area that is known for bugs, we suggest that you research your local area and learn how these critters could be attracted to Walnut wood furniture.
What is Maple Wood?
Maple wood uses
Maple is ideal for any application that needs a smooth, highly durable surface including: hardwood floors, cabinets, baseball bats, kitchen accessories, musical instruments, and furniture. Maple is known for its tight grain and high density, making is great for uses where softer and more porous woods would not work.
Maple wood furniture quality
Maple is an excellent choice for furniture because it is exceptionally smooth when sanded, making it great for those who want a smooth feel. Maple is great for those who are not too fond of rough surfaces.
Maple’s creamy white color also lends itself very well to staining, as Maple’s naturally neutral tones act as a blank slate for stains to be added too. If you have a specific stain look in mind, be sure to look into Maple furniture
Soft Maple vs Hard Maple for furniture
Soft Maple trees
Soft Maple vs hard Maple durability
At Solid Custom Heirlooms we only use hard Maple for our Maple pieces. We do also use soft Maple for our Wormy Maple furniture, as high quality Wormy Maple is often found in softer Maple as well.
Which of these is better for furniture, hard Maple or soft Maple? Because hard Maple is, dare we say, harder, than soft Maple wood, Acer saccharum is the preferred species of Maple for many hardwood furniture makers.
Soft Maple can still make great furniture, and is excellent for hobby use, but it is no match for hard Maple when it comes to furniture built to last for generations. Hard Maple is better for furniture than soft Maple species.
Hard Maple tree identification
Difference between hard Maple and soft Maple bark
Types of Maple wood
Maple Syrup from Hardwood trees
Did you know that the same trees that produce Maple sryup are used to build furniture? If you had waffles this morning, you probably also had the product of a Sugar Maple tree! Solid Rock Maple is also yet another name for Acer saccharum, Hard Maple, as is American Maple.
In order for a Maple tree’s syrup to be commercially sold as Maple syrup, it has to be made up of a certain percent of sugar, depending upon the region it was grown in. The Sugar Maple tree is known for its high sugar content, making it ideal for Maple syrup production.
What is Wormy Maple?
Wormy Maple for Furniture
However much the thought of bug infested trees may give you the hibbie-jibbies, this wood is actually quite desirable and good looking after it has been rid of the beetles. The beetle removal process is completed by the process of dry kiln curing, where the Maple wood is brought to a specific temperature and humidity inside a kiln, which not only kills any remaining beetles but brings the wood to the correct state to be turned into furniture.
The tunnels created by the beetles do not effect the structural integrity of the wood, as the beetle’s themselves are only about 1/5th of an inch long. If you are looking for a truly unique piece of furniture, Wormy Maple may be for you!
Maple vs other hardwoods
Which is better Oak or Maple?
What is better, Maple or Oak? The two hardwood varieties of Oak, Red Oak and White Oak, are known to be excellent hardwoods, as they are both strong and good-looking. So how does Maple compare to Oak hardwoods?
It turns out that Maple and Oak are two very different types of hardwoods, so it is almost not fair to compare them. While they are both durable and strong, both their colors and finished texture greatly differ from one another.
Oak vs Maple Smoothness
Is Maple wood expensive vs other hardwoods?
But the real question is “is Maple expensive compared to other hardwoods?” No, Maple is not. Maple actually tends to be right in the middle of the pack when it comes to price, with Walnut being the most expensive hardwood most of the time. As far as high quality American grown hardwoods go, Maple is reasonably priced and gives you all the things you would expect from premium hardwood.
Oak vs Maple Stain
Because Oak will never be perfectly smooth, it will also never stain as well as Maple. Maple is known to take stain very well, meaning that the original color of a stain will likely show through after being applied to Maple hardwood. This is not so with Oak.
So how does Maple compare to other hardwoods? Maple holds its own, proving that it is a true hardwood species worthy of a place in high quality furniture. If you are searching for a hardwood that is strong, smooth, and stains well, Maple may be your answer.
