Throughout most of the North America, with commercial species in the Eastern United States and Canada and the Western coast of the United States (bigleaf maple).
The Tree:
Maple grow to heights of 120 ft (36 m), with diameter of 3 ft (1 m). Forest grown trees may have a clear bole of 60 ft (18 m).
General Wood Characteristics:
Maple lumber comes principally from the Middle Atlantic and Lakes States, which together account for about for two-thirds of the production. The wood of sugar maple and black maple is known as hard maple. The sapwood of the maple is commonly white with a slight reddish-brown tinge; the heartwood is light reddish brown, but sometimes is considerably darker. It has a closed, subdued grain, uniform texture, turns well on a lathe, is resistant to abrasion and has no characteristic odor or taste. It is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock, and it has large shrinkage. Usually straight grained but the grain also occur as "birds-eye", "curly", and "fiddleback" grain. Maple lumber sometimes has olive or greenish black discolored areas known as mineral streak or mineral stain, which may be due to injury.
Hardness (Janka):
1450 pounds (i.e. 12% harder than Northern red oak).
Dimensional stability:
Average (i.e. less stable than Northern red oak).
Durability:
Heavy, dense, strong, tough, stiff, hard, excellent shock resistant. Used in athletic facilities and for bowling alleys.
Variations within species and grades:
There are about 150 species, 13 are native to North America, of which 10 grow in Canada. Sugar maple and black maple are hard, other species are classified as soft.
Comments:
* Color variation: light sensitive; strong color change upon exposure to intense light.
* color change will disappear within a few months
* Indentation: indentation marks, scratches, or imperfections are more obvious due to maple's density (closed grain) and light color, compare to oak and ash species. To minimize the indentation appearance, use a Satin (low gloss) finish.
