Replies

1. 
   9619 | Dec 15, 2006 01:33am | #1

   Eric,
   It occurs in both. Both are used to make furniture.
   Enjoy.
   Mel

   Measure your output in smiles per board foot. 

2. 
   hammer1 | Dec 15, 2006 04:13pm | #2

   Both hard and soft maple can have wavy looking grain. There are a number of different names, flame, curly, ribbon, fiddleback, tiger. Only eastern hard maple produces the "birds eye" grain and only soft maple produces "quilted" grain. As with many antiques, cabinetmakers used what was available. I think you are most likely to see hard, sugar maple used in early American, New England pieces. Soft maple tends to have more, deep, out of this world figure, than hard. Soft is much lighter in weight, obviously softer, and can be a real pain to smooth up.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   EBrandt | Dec 15, 2006 06:09pm | #3

   As always, thanks for the info!

   -Eric.

2. 
   DonC | Dec 16, 2006 02:04am | #6

   At the Chicago Woodworking Show I recently bought some English Sycamore. To me, it looks identical to fiddleback maple. Have you ever tried this species? My test finishing samples came out fine. H2O dyes and/or linseed oil really pop the grain.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 16, 2006 05:46am | #7

   English sycamore is a variety of Maple (genus Acer) and behaves very much like others of its tribe. 

2. 
   hammer1 | Dec 16, 2006 04:38pm | #8

   I've never used Sycamore but I've seen it on musical instruments. Very beautiful, is it difficult to work?Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

3. 
   Truejoint | Dec 15, 2006 06:29pm | #4

   I've been working with some "rose" soft maple which is just beautiful.  It has the color and workability of cherry at half the price and comes in wide and thick boards at no extra cost.  A few of the boards had lots of wavy grain but only one had what I'd call a true tiger striping.  I used that for the headboard of a bed I recently made.  The coloration is caused by mineral staining.  The lumberyard got wood only from a single tree, but I'd guess this stuff is out there in quantity.  I doubt it takes stain as well as cherry, but I've been finishing it with shellac and a water based acrylic to preserve the natural color.  I put some tried and true on one piece and it came out blotchy in a few spots.

   I'm perplexed as to why soft maple isn't used more often in furniture.

1. 
   DHAM | Dec 15, 2006 10:41pm | #5

   Some of it I am sure is tradition when hard maple was a plentiful wood and it was more durable.  Part of it might have to do with the fact that soft maple gets damaged by insects and at the damage site where the insect bored in, you get a little ring of discoloration from a fungus the insects introduce.  Can be quite attractive depending on the application, but probably not for the traditionalists and for period furniture.  Personally, I like the effect.  However, this is all speculation on my part.  Maybe an expert can wade in.