Wood species
Silver maple wood
Silver maple is a hardwood (Acer saccharinum). At 12% moisture content it has a Janka hardness of 700 lbf (3,114 N) and it weighs about 33 lb/ft³ (526 kg/m³), 2.7 lb (1.24 kg) per board foot.
Also called: white maple, river maple, water maple, swamp maple, Acer saccharinum.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, 12% MC
- 700 lbf (3,114 N)
- Green: 590 lbf (2,624 N)
- Weight at 12% MC
- 33 lb/ft³ (526 kg/m³)
- 2.7 lb per board foot
- Specific gravity (oven-dry weight)
- 0.47 at 12% MC volume
- 0.44 on green volume
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7.2% tangential
- Radial 3.0%, volumetric 12.0%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured
Why: Measured by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory; silver maple's density is worked from its specific gravity with the Handbook's own equation.
How much silver maple moves
A 12 in wide flatsawn board of silver maple that goes from 6% to 12% moisture content swells about 0.18 in (about 3/16 in, 4.6 mm). Quartersawn, the same board moves about 0.07 in (about 1/16 in, 1.9 mm). Flatsawn faces move 2.4 times as much as quartersawn ones, because the wood shrinks 7.2% around the growth rings but only 3.0% across them.
Worked with the Wood Handbook's dimensional change coefficients for silver maple (Table 13-5: 0.00252 tangential, 0.00102 radial per 1% change in moisture content), which hold between 6% and 14%. Individual boards vary: the Handbook gives shrinkage a coefficient of variation of about 15% (p. 4-11).
Color, grain and working
- Color
- Looks like hard maple; the sapwood is somewhat lighter than the heartwood.
- Working and character
- A soft maple: like hard maple, but not as heavy, hard or strong.
- Uses
- Soft maple goes into crossties, boxes, pallets, crates, furniture, veneer, wooden ware and novelties.
Adapted in our own words from the Wood Handbook, Chapter 2, p. 2-8 to 2-9.
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE). Clear, straight-grained samples of silver maple tested by the Forest Products Laboratory (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b). Knots and cross grain make lumber weaker than these clear samples (Handbook Chapter 5).
| Property | Green | 12% MC |
|---|---|---|
| Bending strength (MOR) | 5,800 psi (40 MPa) | 8,900 psi (61 MPa) |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 940,000 psi (6.5 GPa) | 1,140,000 psi (7.9 GPa) |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain) | 2,490 psi (17 MPa) | 5,220 psi (36 MPa) |
| Compression perpendicular to grain | 370 psi (3 MPa) | 740 psi (5 MPa) |
| Shear parallel to grain | 1,050 psi (7 MPa) | 1,480 psi (10 MPa) |
| Tension perpendicular to grain | 560 psi (4 MPa) | 500 psi (3 MPa) |
A dash means the Handbook prints no value; none is filled in.
Dust and health
- Wood dust is classed as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, chiefly for cancers of the nose and sinuses.
- NIOSH recommends keeping wood dust exposure to 1 mg/m³ of total dust, as quoted in OSHA's sawmill guidance.
This is what the named authorities publish, not medical advice.
Compare with
Buying and finishing silver maple
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for furniture with the species picker
Weigh silver maple against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.
- Plan a finish for furniture in silver maple
The finishes whose makers name that use, and a dated coat schedule from each product’s own sheet.
Why these numbers
Why these numbers?
The situation
The USDA Forest Products Laboratory measured silver maple at 700 lbf of side hardness at 12% moisture content, on clear, straight-grained samples (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b).
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
What that means
Side hardness (Janka) is the load needed to press a 0.444 in (11.28 mm) steel ball halfway into the wood across the grain; a higher number dents less (Handbook p. 5-5).
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
So
Density at 12% is water's density × specific gravity × (1 + 0.12) (Handbook Eq. 4-14): 62.43 × 0.47 × 1.12.
Arithmetic: exact by definition , sources [1]
The number
About 33 lb/ft³, or 2.7 lb per board foot (1/12 ft³), at 12% moisture content.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
Sources