American soft maple

Soft maple, growing naturally in the hardwood forests of North America, is one of the most prolific and sustainable species, similar to hard maple but slightly softer in impact hardness.

Latin Name

Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum

Other Common Names

red maple, silver maple

American_maple_soft_big

Forest Distribution

American soft maples grow widely across the eastern USA in mixed hardwood forests with more red maple in the northeast and silver maple concentrated in the mid and southern states. The name can be misleading as soft maple is not technically very soft. There are a significant number of sub-species – all sold as soft maple.  Several, including Pacific coast/big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), grow in the northwest USA, for which there are specific grading rules that apply. 

FOREST GROWTH

FIA data shows U.S. soft maple growing stock is 1.62 billion m3, 11.1% of total U.S. hardwood growing stock. American soft maple is growing 36.4 million m3 per year while the harvest is 16.0 million m3 per year. The net volume (after harvest) is increasing 20.4 million m3 each year. U.S. soft maple growth exceeds harvest in all the main producing states.

Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming Average annual growth, m3 0 3.5K
Back to whole of U.S. 0-20K 20K-40K 40K-60K 60K-80K 80K-100K 100K-120K > 120K Average annual growth, m3 0 200K
-15K -10K -5K 0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -10K -9K -8K -7K -6K -5K -4K -3K -2K -1K 0 1K 2K 3K 4K 5K 6K 7K 8K 9K 10K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -2000 -1750 -1500 -1250 -1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ Removals 0 Growth 0 Net growth 0
0 200K 400K 600K 800K 1M 1.2M FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 40K 80K 120K 160K 200K 240K 280K 320K 360K 400K 440K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 80K 100K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 4K 8K 12K 16K 20K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ Forest volume 0

LCA Tool


seconds
it takes seconds to grow 1m³ of
The replacement rate is calculated from total U.S. annual increment of the specified hardwood species derived from the U.S. Forest Service Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and assumes that 2m³ of logs is harvested to produce 1m³ of lumber (i.e. 50% conversion efficiency). The rapid rate of replacement is due to the very large volume of hardwood trees in U.S. forest.

Material Availability

Soft maple from the USA is widely available as sawn lumber in a range of sizes and grades, but rarely as veneer. The lumber is normally sold unselected for colour. West coast production is usually sold surfaced and graded from the better side, in a departure from standard NHLA Grading Rules. 

Wood Description

  • Soft maples are somewhat like hard maple, but much more variable in colour, especially from one region to another. The sapwood of soft maple is normally greyish white but can be darker, with pith flecks as a natural characteristic. The heartwood of soft maple varies in colour from light to dark reddish brown. The difference between sap and heartwood is greater than in hard maple.
     
  • The wood of soft maple is generally straight grained with fine texture, with a grain pattern similar to American cherry, soft maple can be stained as a cherry substitute.

Mechanical Properties

Soft maple has good bending and crushing strength, but is low in stiffness and shock resistance. It is about 25% less hard than hard maple. Accordingly it is not recommended for flooring or work tops.

  • Acer Rubrum

    0.54

    Specific Gravity (12% M.C.)

    609 kg/m3

    Average Weight (12% M.C.)

    10.50%

    Average Volume Shrinkage (Green to 6% M.C.)

    92.393 MPa

    Modulus of Rupture

    9,998 MPa

    Modulus of Elasticity

    45.093 MPa

    Compressive strength (parallel to grain)

    4,225 N

    Hardness
  • Acer Macrophyllum

    0.48

    Specific Gravity (12% M.C.)

    545 kg/m3

    Average Weight (12% M.C.)

    9.3%

    Average Volume Shrinkage (Green to 6% M.C.)

    73.777 MPa

    Modulus of Rupture

    11,308 MPa

    Modulus of Elasticity

    41.025 MPa

    Compressive strength (parallel to grain)

    3,780 N

    Hardness

Oiled / Un-Oiled Appearance

Oiled
maple_soft_oiled
Un-oiled
maple_soft_unoiled

Performance

  • Soft maple lumber is excellent to machine, bore, plane and finish. It turns, glues, planes, drills and carves well but screwing and nailing is only fair. It produces good mouldings. Soft maple can easily be sanded, stained and polished to a fine and smooth finish, and has good steam bending properties. It is regarded as a substitute for cherry when stained. Its mechanical properties and performance also make it a substitute for beech.
     
  • The wood is non-resistant to decay and the heartwood is moderately resistant topreservative treatment. The sapwood is permeable.

Main Uses

This highly sustainable, managed hardwood from natural forests of North America, with excellent environmental credentials, is considered where hardness and hardwearing properties may not be essential. It is used in furniture, cabinet making and joinery as well as doors, kitchen cabinets and for turning and mouldings.

Mouldings
Furniture
Doors
Cabinets
Turning

Examples of Use

Enjoy by Sebastian Cox
Daybed by Wiid Design