Maple
Maple
(Acer spp./Aceraceae). The genus Acer (Maples)
is comprised of about 120 species native to temperate and sub
tropical regions of the globe. Maples attain heights of 120 ft
with diameters of 3 ft. Some large, trees in natural
forests may have clear trunks of 60 ft. The woods can be separated
into soft maple and hard maple groups based on hardness and microscopic
ray width. Maple sapwood is white to light brown, while the heartwood
is a light red-brown. The species in the Hard Maple Group have
fine, uniform texture that is easy to work w/ power tools. It
is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock, and it
has large shrinkage. Sugar maple is generally straight grained
but the grain also occurs as “birds-eye,” “curly,”
and “fiddleback” grain. The wood of Hard Maple is
hard and heavy and the color of the wood can range from white
to reddish brown. It has a fine, uniform texture that turns well
and is resistant to shock and abrasion. The grain can be straight,
curly, wavy or bird's eye. Wood of the Soft Maple Group is similar
to wood of the Hard Maple Group, but it is less heavy, strong
and hard. Maple wood works well with most tools under most applications.
It is rated as slightly or nonresistant to heartwood decay and
is moderately resistant to penetration with preservatives. It
is used for bowling alleys, bowling pins, boxes and crates, crossties,
cutting blocks, dance floors, distillation, flooring, furniture,
handles, lumber, novelties, pallets, paper pulp, piano frames,
pulpwood, shoe lasts, spools and bobbins, turnery, veneer, and
woodenware.
Soft
Maple Group |
Hard
Maple Group |
Eastern
North America |
Eastern
North America |
Common Name |
Scientific Name |
Common Name |
Scientific Name |
Red Maple |
A. rubrum |
Sugar Maple |
A. saccharum |
Silver Maple |
A. saccharinum |
Black Maple |
A. nigrum |
http://www.inter-statehardwoods.com/Hardwoods/Soft-Maple.aspx.
Characteristics found in the Maple (Acer spp.):
- Diffuse porous
- Spirals on vessels Fine
- I/V pits medium (8-12)
- Rays 1-8 seriate & homocellular
- Hard Maple Group with few/no rays 2-3 wide
WOOD SLIDES
Click on each image to view a larger
image.
Hard Maple
|
Tangential
section of Hard Maple Group (Acer sp.) showing a preponderance of uniseriate rays
and wide rays, 5 – 6 seriate. |
Soft Maple
|
Tangential
section of Soft Maple Group (Acer sp.) showing many rays that
are 2 – 3 seriate. |
CHARCOAL SLIDES
Hard Maple
Soft Maple
|