Mixed hard and soft maple

[Robin Frierson]

Went to Wall lumber today and came home with some beautiful wide ash, soft maple and a smaller amount of hard maple, which I got mixed up with the soft. And the maples are the same length and same end paint. So how do I separate them/

Some soft maple stands out just from the color but I got a lot of boards where I cant tell the difference in the rough. So will try the fingernail test and check the end grain, feel the weight difference which is hard with varying width. Any other ways to identify rough maple? Can't believe I didn't mark them.

[John Lankers]

This may or may not help but give it a try. I have some kiln dried hard maple and some air dried soft maple that I milled myself, when I knock on the hard maple like you would knock on a door it sounds more dense and the soft maple hand planes almost like poplar and the fibers feel fussier.
There are probably better indicators so please take it for what it's worth.

[Bill Orbine]

https://www.google.com/search?q=soft...w3I3I5YuXvM%3A

[John K Jordan]

Did the lumber yard say which soft maple you bought?

Assuming they are at the same approximate moisture content, you might weigh them. Measure the boards, weigh, calculate the density.

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...nd-soft-maple/

The table there shows a density overlap between Red maple and hard maple, but for that there is a chemical test.

JKJ

[Biff Phillips]

I mix hard and soft maple in my projects.. You really can't use color as a reliable indicator according to my sawmill guy.
I just do my best to color match.. Soft maple is still pretty hard.

[Mel Fulks]

Biff, I agree with you ....but be careful. Some of these guys tote Janka hardness testers.

[Robin Frierson]

The lumber yard guy said he didnt know the exact kind of soft maple. But he did stress to me that the hard maple I bought was "white" hard maple since they were out of "natural" hard maple. Well white is a relative term when dealing with maple. But when I sorted out my lumber this morning I noticed there were essentiall two colors, one a gray tan, another a more golden tan...and if you planed the end of the golden tan you got fairly good white. The hard maple is lighter in color through this batch. Plus when I started handing the lumber I could tell by the weight also.

Once thing though is this soft maple had tight growth rings , as tight or tighter than the hard maple, so you couldn't tell just from the end grain. So when it was separated out I had twice as much soft maple as hard which is what I purchased. I plan to make wood on wood piston fit drawers so will be using the hard maple for drawer parts, so it will be inside the cases, while the soft maple will be outside visible.

[Danny Hamsley]

Like posted in the link, look at the end grain with a 10X hand lens or magnifying glass. Hard maple has two sizes of medullary rays, one wider and the other narrower. In soft maple, the rays are the same size.

Soft maple has about the same density as black walnut, so it is not "soft" at all. It is denser than cherry. As long as you are happy with the colors of the boards that you choose for a project, I would not worry about separating them.

[Rich Riddle]

I have seen them mixed up in bins at suppliers as well. Most cannot tell the difference. Use your magnifying glass if you're really certain that the project calls for only one type.

[Randy Red Bemont]

I know you will mark them next time you buy lumber of similar woods. If your happy with the way its sorted, go with it. In the end no one will know anyway.

Red

[Robin Frierson]

I couldn't see the rays in the hard maple...my lens is not that strong and the end grain was cut with a hand held circular saw, so not the best cut. This "white" hard maple cost about $1 more a bd ft than the soft and in this batch looks somewhat different. It handplanes different...the hard is harder to plane. That's why they call it Hard maple. :} Next time I will mark it, that's for sure.

[Danny Hamsley]

Take a razor knife and make a clean slice on the end grain to see the rays.

[glenn bradley]

John K has the idea: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...nd-soft-maple/