Maple Wood

A close grained wood, Maple is hard and strong. Although it is a tough wood it is able to take on a satiny finish. Maple wood is used in hundreds or more product types - furniture, flooring, cabinets, tool handles. The wood is white when first cut but takes on a pinkish hue as it is exposed to light. The Red Maple sometimes has very distinguished birds-eye markings and curled maple markings which bring a premium in the marketplace. Different types of Maple trees are used for different products based on the strength and flexibility of the wood. Red Maple is commonly used for oars and other items that need some flexibility. Silver Maple is not quite as strong and frequently used in large baskets and smaller items. Sycamore-Maple is frequently used in cabinetry.

There are both hard and soft Maple trees. They can be used in combination or separately. Soft Maple takes on stain more readily so the only time it may not be a good idea to mix the hard and soft Maples is when the stain needs to be consistent as in furniture. In that case the furniture is made of all hard or all soft Maple. White Oak is frequently used in outdoor furniture.