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Silver Maple

Started by tacks Y, April 22, 2020, 07:46:30 AM

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tacks Y

Any one sawed them? Nice grain or boring? Was offered a couple nice logs, some call it water maple. Growing along the river.

moodnacreek

They are much whiter than the red maple. Many are wormy and that's the big fad. In the so called Ambrosia maple the silver maple is the most attractive by far.

WV TreeTopper

I have sawed some silver maple and like the other gentleman said . Very white ! Lol but I was happy with it 

tacks Y

Plan to go get 1 and try it.

moodnacreek

Maples are all sap wood. They have no heart wood. They have all that water to loose while drying and this results in shrinkage and staining under the sticks. In 4/4 and 5/4 the sticks should be 12" o.c. and moved after a month or so. I have had good luck using 3/4" wide [1 " thick] very rough, very dry sticks cut on a circle mill. I did not move them. Grooved or fluted sticks may work also. Drying maple is the hard part.

driftlessinwi

I have used it a few times already because I took out a huge silver maple that was struck by lightning.  It was close to 100ft tall and had was 33"+ in diameter to about 40ft up.  I did a lot of research on it trying to figure out if it was worthwhile and came to the conclusion that even though it is called "soft maple" it is actually still quite hard with nearly the same hardness ratings as cherry and black walnut.  It has been easy to dry in the kiln and I haven't had a lot of checking or movement from it.  I did quarter saw most of it so I am sure that helped. Silver maple does have some darker heartwood, you just need a really large tree and it seems to only really occur in the butt log.  I did notice that it is susceptible to sticker stain so use a light colored or composite sticker.  I love the look and color of it.  Here are some pictures of projects I made with it...treads for a loft ladder/stair (at the cabin the tree was taken from) and I used 1 x 12s for wall coverings in a treehouse I am working on.  In addition, I have large 33" slabs that I need to figure out something to use them for.  I have a few videos on my youtube channel with more shots of the silver maple, including in the treehouse and in my DIY wood kiln drying.  

 

 

Videos:
A bunch of silver maple in a kiln:  Silver maple in DIY Kiln
1x12 silver Maple in a treehouse: Silver Maple in a Treehouse

driftlessinwi

Runningalucas

Quote from: driftlessinwi on February 22, 2021, 10:51:01 AM
I have used it a few times already because I took out a huge silver maple that was struck by lightning.  It was close to 100ft tall and had was 33"+ in diameter to about 40ft up.  I did a lot of research on it trying to figure out if it was worthwhile and came to the conclusion that even though it is called "soft maple" it is actually still quite hard with nearly the same hardness ratings as cherry and black walnut.  It has been easy to dry in the kiln and I haven't had a lot of checking or movement from it.  I did quarter saw most of it so I am sure that helped. Silver maple does have some darker heartwood, you just need a really large tree and it seems to only really occur in the butt log.  I did notice that it is susceptible to sticker stain so use a light colored or composite sticker.  I love the look and color of it.  Here are some pictures of projects I made with it...treads for a loft ladder/stair (at the cabin the tree was taken from) and I used 1 x 12s for wall coverings in a treehouse I am working on.  In addition, I have large 33" slabs that I need to figure out something to use them for.  I have a few videos on my youtube channel with more shots of the silver maple, including in the treehouse and in my DIY wood kiln drying.  

 

 

Videos:
A bunch of silver maple in a kiln:  Silver maple in DIY Kiln
1x12 silver Maple in a treehouse: Silver Maple in a Treehouse

driftlessinwi
Thank you for posting these picks, and the general information.  I've not really looked into it, whether a sugar maple, or silver, but have one on a property that was taken out by a windstorm.  I've not finished removing it, but am wanting to mill it when I do.

Quote from: moodnacreek on April 25, 2020, 08:43:04 AM
Maples are all sap wood. They have no heart wood. They have all that water to loose while drying and this results in shrinkage and staining under the sticks. In 4/4 and 5/4 the sticks should be 12" o.c. and moved after a month or so. I have had good luck using 3/4" wide [1 " thick] very rough, very dry sticks cut on a circle mill. I did not move them. Grooved or fluted sticks may work also. Drying maple is the hard part.

I didn't realize they're all 'sap' wood.  I didn't even realize such a thing was possible.  I've got a book on 'wood', it goes over all the micro structure differences, and specific gravity; I'll have to pull it out, and take a look.  Is it true for all Maples?  Is this a unique thing?  Learn something every day!
Life is short, tragedy is instant, it's what we do with our time in between that matters.  Always strive to do better, to be better.

driftlessinwi

There is heartwood in a silver maple:  https://www.wood-database.com/silver-maple/

Also, you can see some of it in the pictures I posted...the 5th stair down from the top is almost all heartwood.

driftlessinwi

Also, it is hard to see in the photos, but there can be a lot of curl in silver maple too...very neat looking.  This stuff grows fast and big around here in WI, I'm surprised it isn't used more :)  I have also found that box elder can be very pretty if you get a big enough tree, in the 80+ yo range.  I am waiting for the big gotcha with using the silver maple, but haven't found it yet! :)

alan gage

We have a lot of silver maple here. I've rarely seen any that would make a good saw log. Lots of multiple trunks, twists, and turns. Would love to get some to saw though.

Alan
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firefighter ontheside

I've milled a few.  I've had better luck with smaller logs.  I milled what I thought was going to be an awesome one, but the lumber all turned out cracked.  I put another one on the mill today.  It is about 7' long and 22" diameter.  Its been sitting around a while and I"m hoping it will have some spalting at least if not some ambrosia.  Also, I expect it to have some nails, so I will be scanning it before every cut.  This was a yard tree.
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moodnacreek

To my knowledge  maple has no heart. I could be wrong with some of the soft maples but sugar and black are all sap. If they show a heart it is from an injury. Spruce also has no heart.

Larry

When the weather warms, if the logs lay for a couple of weeks the wood will grey stain.  One of the local big mills saw lots of it.  When they get old logs they call the lumber "paint grade" and reduce the price a bit.

Bright white and rotten (spalted) boards bring premium prices. :D
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