About Maple Lumber
Maple trees are a hardwood, broadleaf, deciduous species that is converted into lumber. The diverse varieties of these trees are located in the temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere in Africa, Asia, China, Europe and North America.
Lumber mills can specialize in certain types of maple trees. The maple logs are milled into lumber and prepared for use in a variety of ways. These include making such items as musical instruments, building construction and cabinets.
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Classification
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Maples are the genus Acer in the family Aceraceae. Common maple species include the red maple, silver maple, sugar maple, ashleaf maple (boxelder) and bigleaf maple.
Red maple is found on the eastern coast and midwestern part of North America, as well as in the southeastern part of Canada. It is used in the furniture industry.
Silver maple is found in the same areas as the red maple, but its economic use is limited, as it produces a brittle wood.
Sugar maples produce the strongest and hardest maple wood. This wood is commonly used in furniture, musical instruments and bowling alleys. Sugar maples also sometimes produce unusual grained wood called curly maple or bird's eye maple. This special grain is valuable and is used in high end furniture, as well as string instruments.
Ashleaf maple is the most common maple in North America. However, the wood of the ashleaf maple is soft and weak, and therefore has no major economic use.
Bigleaf maple is the only tree in the maple family to grow along the Pacific Coast. Wood from the bigleaf maple is made use of in musical instruments and in the furniture industry.
Wood Grains
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In the lumber business, different wood grains receive different names. These names include tiger maple, curly maple, bird's eye maple, bark pocket maple and quilted maple.
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Considerations
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Boards a foot long or more are sawed through to create a mirrored symmetry in the lumber, called bookmatched sets. This creates color matched lumber for furniture projects.
Quilted maple lumber is widely used in the musical instrument industry. It is used to make guitars (arch bass, acoustic and electric), mandolins and violins.
Processing
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To make lumber, the trees are first chopped down and sent to sawmills, where they are cut further. Then the wood is placed in dehumidifying kilns. These kilns are heated at 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The wood is dried for approximately 1 month. It is then graded, processed into final lumber forms and sold.
Types of Maple Lumber
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Lumber is formed into different shapes and sizes for different uses. Some forms are bowl blanks, fretboard blanks, hobby wood, inlay wood and pen blanks.
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