Maple Mayhem: A Guide to the Wild World of Figured Wood
Listen up, wood nerds and furniture fanatics—maple isn’t just that bland beige stuff your grandma’s cutting board is made from. Oh no. When Mother Nature gets bored, she cranks the dial to fabulous and gifts us figured maple that looks like it partied too hard in the forest. Let’s dissect the drama queens of the maple world: curly, tiger, wormy, rain drop, hard, and soft. Grab your safety goggles; things are about to get sappy.
Curly Maple: The Permed Prom Queen
Picture maple that decided to skip the lumberjack and head straight to the salon. Those wild, undulating waves? That’s curl, baby—chatoyance so extra it shifts like a holographic Pokémon card when you tilt it. It’s the wood equivalent of velvet leggings: looks soft, costs a fortune, and makes every guitar builder weep with joy (or bankruptcy).
Tiger Maple: The Girl with Standards
Curly’s edgier cousin who traded soft waves for stripes. Tiger (aka flame) maple has those bold, dark ribbons that look like someone spilled espresso on a zebra. It’s the wood that says, “Yeah, I bench-press oaks for fun.” Fun fact: Early American rifle stocks loved tiger maple because nothing says “don’t mess with me” like a musket that moonlights as modern art.
Wormy Maple: The Goth Kid with a Backstory (My Favorite)
This maple didn’t just grow—it survived. Ambrosia beetles tunneled through it like tiny drunk architects, leaving streaks, holes, and a punk-rock attitude. The result? A patina that looks like a crime scene in the best way. Plot twist: The beetles are long gone, but the fungal staining they invited? Chef’s kiss.
Rain Drop Maple: The Weepy Influencer
Also called “waterfall” or “quilted with blisters,” this rare diva has 3D bubbles that look like mercury droplets frozen mid-splash. It’s the wood version of a glitter bomb—impossible to ignore and twice as expensive. Rumor has it: Only shows up when the tree was extra dramatic during growth rings.
Hard Maple: The Overachieving Jock
Acer saccharum—sugar maple’s buff older brother. Dense, pale, and harder than your boss’s heart. It laughs at dents, scoffs at scratches, and turns bowling alleys into battlegrounds. Flex: Janka hardness ~1,450 lbf. (Soft maple cries in the corner.)
Soft Maple: The Chill Stoner Cousin
Acer rubrum (red maple) or acer negundo (boxelder)—lighter, softer, and way less judgmental. It’s the maple that shows up to the family reunion in flip-flops with a figure that still slays when curly or spalted. Hot take: “Hard” and “soft” are just density flexes—soft maple can still be harder than some “hardwoods.” Mind blown.
Next time you’re stroking a fancy countertop, ask yourself: Is this maple serving looks, trauma, or both? Now go forth and annoy your local lumberyard with your newfound wood snobbery. You’re welcome. Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the making of this blog post… okay, maybe a few. But they looked fabulous doing it.