Maple (Hard Maple)
Dense, fine-grained hardwood with good wear resistance. Hard maple is the usual choice for flooring, butcher blocks and work surfaces where the surface has to take abuse.
Properties
- Family
- Wood
- Category
- wood
- Species
- Acer saccharum
- Density
- 0.705 g/cm³ · 705 kg/m³
Densityhow maple (hard maple) compares
Wood propertiesUSDA clear-wood values at 12% moisture content
- Species measured
- Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
- Specific gravity
- 0.63
- Janka side hardness
- 1,450 lbf · 6,450 N
- Modulus of rupture
- 15,800 psi · 108.9 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 1.83 ×10⁶ psi · 12.62 GPa
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 4.8% radial · 9.9% tangential · 14.7% volumetric
Source: USDA Forest Service, Wood Handbook — Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-190, 2010), Table 5–3b, for clear straight-grained specimens at 12% moisture content. The grey figures are converted at 1 lbf = 4.448 N, 1 psi = 6.895 kPa and 1 GPa = 145,038 psi; the inch-pound numbers are the published ones. Specific gravity is oven-dry mass over volume at 12% moisture content, so it sits about 12% below the working density at the top of this page (0.63 × 1.12 ≈ 0.71 g/cm³). The two come from different sampling programmes, so a few species differ by more than that.
Applicationswhere maple (hard maple) is normally specified
Appearance & workabilitytrade experience, not measured values
- Origin
- Eastern North America
- Appearance
- Creamy white to light tan, fine even texture, straight grain; the hardest and whitest of the maples
- Working
- Dense enough to dull edges quickly, and it burns if fed slowly. Glues and finishes cleanly and stays stable once dry.
Unlike the USDA figures above, these lines are not measurements: they carry no units and no single source. They describe how the timber is generally found to behave rather than what it is guaranteed to do — read them as the consensus of the trade, not as a specification.
Practical notes
- Density is for air-dried stock at about 12% moisture content
- Hard maple is substantially denser than soft or silver maple
- Moves noticeably with moisture — allow for expansion in wide panels
Lumber sizeswhat maple (hard maple) weighs in each nominal size
Lumber size databaseDressed sizes are the same for every species — a 2x4 is 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 in in oak as much as in spruce. What changes is the weight, and that is derived here from maple (hard maple)'s density of 0.705 g/cm³.
Tools used on itmatched on the wood family, not on this page
All toolsWhich tools work a material is a property of the family (Wood), not of the individual species — so this list is the same on every wood page, and changes when the tool data changes rather than when this paragraph does.
Used in these projectsbuilds whose bill of materials calls for it
All projectsFrequently asked questionsthe questions this page answers about Maple (Hard Maple)
How hard is Maple (Hard Maple)?
Janka hardness is 1,450 lbf — the force needed to push a steel ball halfway into the wood. Higher is harder; this is the number quoted when a wood is specified for floors, worktops or butcher blocks.
How dense is Maple (Hard Maple)?
Density is 0.705 g/cm³, and the USDA table gives a specific gravity of 0.63.
How much does Maple (Hard Maple) move when it dries?
Green to oven-dry it shrinks 14.7% by volume — 4.8% radially and 9.9% tangentially. Movement across the grain is what opens joints, so a species that moves a lot wants room to move.
What is Maple (Hard Maple) used for?
Typical uses are Flooring, Butcher blocks, Work surfaces and Cabinetry.
How does Maple (Hard Maple) work with hand and machine tools?
Dense enough to dull edges quickly, and it burns if fed slowly. Glues and finishes cleanly and stays stable once dry.