Soft Maple

Sources

Eastern seaboard of North America

Other Names

Swamp Maple & Red Maple

Characteristics

Pale brown with slight pink or gray hues. Also has very fine & even texture with both hardness and weight medium.

Milling

Planes excellent.

Shaping

Keeps a sharp edge and cuts easily.

Finishing

Will not have the lustre of hard maple but is sill fine enough not to use fillers. Generally is stained dark to reproduce the look of Hard Maple.

Key Uses

Furniture, cabinet making, interior trim, & handles.

Comments

When staining dark it is a cheaper alternative to Hard Maple. The figured wood are highly sought after.

Reference 1: Gibbs, N. (2005). The Real Wood Bible.
Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books.

Reference 2: Flynn, J.H. & Holder, C.D. (2001).
A Guide to Useful Woods of the World.
Madison, WI: Forest Products Society.