Maple

Handloggers’ Opinion
If ever there was a standard for the industry maple ranks right up there with the oaks. Unlike many of the other hardwoods, maple is graded by color. The 1st grade of maple should be the creamy white sapwood. Lower grades will include dark heartwood, mineral streaks and knots for a more rustic look. It is a hard, dense wood (think bowling alleys) but frankly, we don’t sell as much of the 1st grade white grade as we used to. People seem to want more of a true wood look rather than the clean white look.
Appearance
Color: Heartwood is creamy white to light reddish brown; sapwood is pale to creamy white.
Grain: Closed, subdued grain, with medium figuring and uniform texture. Occasionally shows quilted, fiddleback, curly or bird’s-eye figuring. Figured boards often culled during grading and sold at a premium.
Variations withing species and grades: Black maple (B. nigrum) is also hard; other species are classified as soft.
Properties
Hardness/Janka: 1450; 12% harder than Northern red oak.
Dimensional Stability: Average (change coefficient .00353; 4% more stable than red oak).
Durability: Dense, strong, tough, stiff; excellent shock resistance — often used in bowling alleys and athletic facilities. Markedly resistant to abrasive wear.
Workability
Sawing/Machining: Density makes machining difficult.
Sanding: Sands satisfactorily.
Nailing: Fair resistance to splitting; good holding ability.
Finishing: Takes neutral finish well; does not stain uniformly.
Comments: Light color lends itself to contemporary light floors. Extra care must be taken during sanding and finishing, as sanding marks and finish lines are more obvious due to maple’s density and light color.

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"Wood Species Used in Wood Flooring, publication A200, ©1994" provided with permission and courtesy of the National Wood Flooring Association.