Hard Maple Lumber
Brightly colored and fine-grained, hard maple lumber is prized by woodworkers for its striking appearance and resistance to wear.
Product Description
Hard maple lumber – also known as white hard maple – is produced from the sugar maple (or rock maple) tree, with the scientific name of Acer saccharum. We select our hard maple from “pencil heart” maple trees, which have a very high percentage of desirable bright, cream-colored sapwood. Hard maple typically has a fine texture with a straight grain. However, it can exhibit wavy, curly, quilted, or bird's-eye grain patterns.
Hard maple weighs approximately 3.7 lbs per board foot. Boasting a Janka hardness rating of 1,450, it is one of the hardest domestic hardwoods available. This makes it the number one wood for cutting boards and other projects that need to be very durable.
What is Hard Maple Lumber Used For?
Hard maple is a bit trickier to work with compared to other hardwood species. It can be slightly brittle and prone to chipping and tear-out during machining. Hard maple also doesn't stain as easily as other lumber because of its closed grain. The grain has a similar pattern to cherry wood.
Some common uses of hard maple wood include:
- Furniture – popular for use in furniture, especially for desks, tables, chairs, bedroom furniture, and bookcases.
- Flooring – A common choice for heavy-duty flooring, such as in bowling alleys and dance studios.
- Butcher blocks and cutting boards – Hard maple is the industry standard when it comes to cutting surfaces thanks in part to its antimicrobial properties, hardness, and beauty.
- Cabinets – including both kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities.
- Fine Crafts – Maple’s smooth finish, fine grain, and light color make it popular in creating items such as jewelry boxes, pens, frames, and even clocks.
- Toys – Maple holds up to play, making it great for toys like wood blocks and doll furniture.
- Musical instruments – Hard maple is a top choice for guitar necks and piano actions.
Tips for Working With Hard Maple Lumber
Because maple is so hard, you may need to sharpen your cutting tools often when working with this wood. Reduce your feed rate in machinery to reduce the risk of tear out.
Natural hard maple is lovely when finished with oil or clear coats. It can be stained, but due to its closed pores, you may need more than one coat of stain to achieve your desired final look. Hard maple is so tough that it makes great shelving material, but pilot holes are recommended for fasteners.
Hard Maple Wood Boards Available
North Castle Hardwoods has over 30 years of experience supplying premium hardwood to international manufacturers, which reflects our commitment to quality and standards. We offer a variety of sizes, so you can find the size no matter your project!
Our hard maple wood boards are available with 4/4, 5/4, and 6/4 thickness. We also provide quality hard maple thin stock in 1/8”, 1/4” and 1/2” thicknesses.
We offer all our dimensional hard maple lumber in widths ranging from 2.5” to 6.5” and lengths ranging from 18” to 48”. Our thin stock is available in widths from 3” to 6.5” and 12” to 48” lengths. This incredible size range allows you to select the best boards for your needs. Your wood choices will be shipped to your door, carefully packaged, and ready to use.
We also offer surfaced 4 sides (S4S) hard maple turning blanks. Occasionally hard maple may have wavy, curly, quilted, or birdseye grain. If you are looking for hard maple wood with distinct character, please call us and let us know your preferences.
