Soft Maple

Soft Maple resembles hard maple and has many of the same characteristics; however, it is not as hard or strong. It is a closed, straight grained wood that is normally uniform in color. Red Leaf soft maple is most common in Michigan. It has less fleck than silver leaf maple, which is found in other states in the northern region. The sapwood is a white/light cream color and the heartwood is a light brown. The heartwood tends to run larger in soft maple trees than hard maple trees, so color sorting is usually less stringent in the white sorts. Soft maple machines well.