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Boring
Common Names
Common Uses
Countries of Distribution
Distribution Overview
Drying Defects
Ease of Drying
Environmental Profile
Family Name
Gluing
Grain
Heartwood Color
Kiln Schedules
Mortising
Moulding
Nailing
Natural Durability
Numerical Data
Odor
Planing
Product Sources
References
Regions of Distribution
Resistance to Impregnation
Sanding
Sapwood Color
Scientific Name
Screwing
Steam Bending
Strength Properties
Texture
Trade Name
Tree Size
Turning
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Common Names
Silver maple, Soft maple, White maple
Regions of Distribution
North America
Countries of Distribution
[VIEW MAP]
Canada, United States
Common Uses
Boxes and crates, Building materials, Casks, Chairs, Chests, Concealed parts (Furniture), Core Stock, Desks, Dining-room furniture, Dowell pins, Dowells, Drawer sides, Fine furniture, Floor lamps, Furniture , Furniture components, Furniture squares or stock, Hatracks, Interior construction, Kitchen cabinets, Living-room suites, Office furniture, Packing cases, Pallets, Paneling , Pulp/Paper products, Pulpwood, Radio - stereo - TV cabinets, Rustic furniture, Stools, Tables , Truck bodies, Utility furniture, Vehicle parts, Veneer, Wainscotting, Wardrobes
Environmental Profile
| Abundant/Secure |
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| Questionable |
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| Widespread |
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| Relative endangerement is based on the number of occurences of the species globally |
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| May be rare in some parts of its range, particularly at the periphery |
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| Globally secure |
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| Data source is World Conservation Monitoring Center |
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| Data source is Nature Conservancy |
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| Abundant |
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Distribution Overview
The range of silver maple extends from New Brunswick in Canada, westerly to northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota; then south to southeastern South Dakota and eastern Oklahoma; east to northern Georgia; and back north through western South Carolina and western North Carolina to Maine. It is found in northwestern Florida on the Apalachicola and Choctawhatchee rivers but is not otherwise found on the Gulf or Atlantic Coastal Plain. Silver maple is a dominant canopy species only in streamside communities and lake fringes, and occasionally in swamps, gullies, and small depressions of slow drainage.
Heartwood Color
| Brown |
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| Red |
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| Purple |
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| Green/grey |
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| Light brown |
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| Greenish to greyish |
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| Faint purplish hue |
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Sapwood Color
Wide sapwood
Grain
| Even |
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| Closed |
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| Wavy |
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| Straight |
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| Birds-eye (figure) |
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| Straight |
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| Curly grain occasionally |
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| Closed |
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Patterns such as bird's-eye, which are usually found in Hard maples, are rather rare in Soft maples
Texture
Natural Durability
| Perishable |
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| Non-durable |
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| Little or no natural resistance |
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Odor
| No specific smell or taste |
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Kiln Schedules
| 8 - D4 (4/4); T6 - C3 (8/4) U |
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Drying Defects
| Internal Honeycombing Possible |
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| Ring Shakes |
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| Wet wood causes most defects. |
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| Ring failure |
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| Honeycombing possible |
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Ease of Drying
Tree Size
| Tree height is 10-20 m |
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| Tree height is 20-30 m |
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Product Sources
Silver maple, which is one of the three commercially valuable soft maples, is readily available and inexpensive.
Boring
| Fair to good results |
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| Fairly easy to very easy |
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| Responds well to boring |
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| Good (75+ pieces out of 100 will yield good to excellent results) |
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Gluing
| Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult |
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| Fairly difficult to glue |
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Mortising
| Poor to Very Poor Results |
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| Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult |
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| Fairly poor mortising properties |
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Number of mortised pieces out of one hundred expected to yield fair to excellent results = 34
Moulding
| Poor to Very Poor Results |
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| Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult |
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| Very poor (25+% of pieces will yield good to excellent results) |
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Nailing
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Satisfactory nailing properties |
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Number of nailed pieces out of one hundred expected to be free from complete splits = 58
Planing
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Poor to Very Poor Results |
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| Easy to plane |
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Expected number of planed piece out of one hundred producing perfect results = 41
Resistance to Impregnation
| Resistant heartwood |
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| Resistant sapwood |
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| Heartwood is extremely resistant to preservative treatment |
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Sanding
| Poor to Very Poor Results |
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| Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult |
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| Poor sanding properties |
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Number of sanded pieces out of one hundred expected to produce good to excellent surfaces = 38
Screwing
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Satisfactory screwing characteristics |
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Percent of screwed pieces expected to be free from complete splits = 61
Turning
| Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Good results |
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Percent of turned pieces that are expected to yield fair to excellent results = 76
Steam Bending
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Fair/moderate (,50% of pieces are unbroken during steam bending) |
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Strength Properties
| Surfaces may dent or scratch easily |
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| Crushing strength = low |
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| Bending strength (MOR) = medium |
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Numerical Data
| Item | Green | Dry | English |
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| Bending Strength | 5684 | 8722 | psi |
| Crushing Strength | 363 | 725 | psi |
| Hardness | | 686 | lbs |
| Impact Strength | 28 | 25 | inches |
| Maximum Crushing Strength | 2440 | 5116 | psi |
| Shearing Strength | | 1450 | psi |
| Stiffness | 921 | 1117 | 1000 psi |
| Work to Maximum Load | 8 | 11 | inch-lbs/in3 |
| Specific Gravity | 0.37 | 0.35 | |
| Radial Shrinkage | 3 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 7 | | % |
| Volumetric Shrinkage | 12 | | % |
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| Item | Green | Dry | Metric |
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| Bending Strength | 399 | 613 | kg/cm2 |
| Crushing Strength | 25 | 50 | kg/cm2 |
| Hardness | | 311 | kg |
| Impact Strength | 71 | 63 | cm |
| Maximum Crushing Strength | 171 | 359 | kg/cm2 |
| Shearing Strength | | 101 | kg/cm2 |
| Stiffness | 64 | 78 | 1000 kg/cm2 |
| Work to Maximum Load | 0.56 | 0.77 | cm-kg/cm3 |
| Specific Gravity | 0.37 | 0.35 | |
| Radial Shrinkage | 3 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 7 | | % |
References
Boone, R.S., C.J. Kozlik, P.J. Bois and E.M. Wengert. 1988. Dry Kiln Schedules for Commercial Woods: Temperate and Tropical. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, General Technical Report FPL-GTR-57, Madison, Wisconsin.
Canadian Forestry Service. 1981. Canadian Woods - Their Properties and Uses. Third Edition. E.J. Mullins and T.S. McKnight, Editors. Published by University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada.
HMSO, 1981. Handbook of Hardwoods, 2nd Edition. Revised by R.H. Farmer. Department of the Environment, Building Research Establishment, Princes Risborough Laboratory, Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Kaiser, J. 1989. Wood of the Month - Maple: The Star of Autumn, the Sweetness of Spring. Wood of the Month Annual, Volume 1, Supplement to Wood and Wood Products, Page 37-38.
Little, E.L. 1980. The Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Trees - Western Region. Published by Arthur A. Knopf, New York.
Panshin, A.J. and C. deZeeuw. Textbook of Wood Technology. McGraw-Hill Series in Forest Resources. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
USDA. 1987. Wood Handbook:Wood as an Engineering Material. Agriculture Handbook No. 72. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin.
USDA. 1988. Dry Kiln Operators Manual, Preliminary Copy. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
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