Species data
Red Maple
Acer rubrum - a hardwood from eastern North America. Also sold as soft maple.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 950 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,640,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.61 |
| Density | 38.1 lb/ft3 (610 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.17 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 8.2% tangential / 4% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00289 / 0.00137 |
| Indicative price | $4.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Red Maple compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 48% of them, heavier than 50%, and stiffer than 53%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Red Maple it weighs about 16.9 lb. A stack of ten is 169 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Red Maple is about 78% as hard and 87% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 8.2% tangential against 4% radial, a ratio of 2.0 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Red Maple on hardness in this database: Black Cherry (950 lbf), Imbuia (970 lbf), Anigre (990 lbf), Paper Birch (910 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Reasonably easy, though fast cutters may scorch it; turns, glues and finishes well
Durability. Offers poor decay resistance, ranging from non-durable to perishable
Typical uses. veneer, pulpwood, boxes, musical instruments, turned objects.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Red Maple
- Dimensional change coefficient table (Hoadley / FPL Wood Handbook), reproduced by Popular Woodworking
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). CT/CR from the FPL/Hoadley table where listed. Uses, region, durability, workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.