Species data
Silver Maple
Acer saccharinum - a hardwood from northeastern United States. Also sold as soft maple.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 700 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,140,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.53 |
| Density | 33.1 lb/ft3 (530 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.76 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 7.2% tangential / 3% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00252 / 0.00102 |
| Indicative price | $3.50 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 Silver Maple compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 33% of them, heavier than 29%, and stiffer than 7%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Silver Maple it weighs about 14.7 lb. A stack of ten is 147 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Silver Maple is about 57% as hard and 76% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 7.2% tangential against 3% radial, a ratio of 2.4 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 Silver Maple on hardness in this database: Loblolly Pine (690 lbf), Shortleaf Pine (690 lbf), Sweet Chestnut (680 lbf), American Sycamore (770 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Fairly easy, though high-speed cutters can scorch it; turns, glues and finishes well
Durability. Decay resistance is weak, from non-durable down to perishable
Typical uses. veneer, pulpwood, boxes, musical instruments, turned objects.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Silver 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.