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The sapwood is creamy white with a slight reddish brown tinge and the heartwood varies from
light to dark reddish brown. The amount of darker brown heartwood can vary significantly according
to growing region. Both sapwood and heartwood can contain pith fleck. The wood has close fine
texture and is generally straight grained, but it can also occur as "curly", "fiddleback", and
"birds-eye" figure.
Working Properties
Hard maple dries slowly with a large shrinkage, so it can be susceptible to movement in performance.
Pre-boring is recommended when nailing and screwing. With care it machines well, turns well, glues
satisfactorily. It can be stained and polished to an outstanding finish. Northwest Hardwoods’
state-of-the art dry kilns and drying technology help assure lumber that is straight and flat.
Physical Properties
The wood is hard and heavy with good strength properties. It has excellent resistance to abrasion
and wear. It also has good steam bending properties.
Main Uses
Furniture, kitchen cabinets, paneling, worktops and table tops, flooring, interior joinery: stairs,
handrails, mouldings, and doors.
Regional Differences
Appalachian—The balanced four-season climate in the Appalachian region produces Hard Maple
with beautiful color and texture. Hard Maple is known for its fine, uniform texture and fairly straight
grain. It is strong, stiff and stable making it one of easiest hardwoods to machine. We pull our products
for high color applications including kitchen cabinetry, mouldings and furniture. The lengths from this
region are 8-16'
Glacial—The Glacial region’s frigid winters produce slow-growing trees with tight growth rings,
creating Hard Maple with outstanding color and texture. Hard Maple is known for its fine, uniform texture
and fairly straight grain. It is strong, stiff and stable making it one of the easiest hardwoods to
machine. Northwest Hardwoods Glacial Hard Maple is manufactured to a proprietary grading standard that
includes special color sorts. Our high end proprietary grades have minimal heartwood and are well-suited
for cabinet and furniture applications. Approximately 80 percent of the lengths from this region are 8-10'.
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Hard Maple—Acer Saccharum, A. Nigrum
Hard Maple Grades
Superior White
Cabinet White
Superior
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