Wood Species Guide

Soft Maple

Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum and related species

Also called: Red Maple, Silver Maple, Swamp Maple, Maple

Soft maple gives you the clean, light look of maple at a gentler price and with easier working properties. It is the base wood behind ambrosia maple and spalted maple, and red maple even grows wild here in Florida.
DomesticFloridaHardwoodMaples
Good forTabletops & SlabsRiver TablesCutting Boards (food-safe, closed grain)

About the name “Soft Maple”

'Soft maple' is a lumber group, not a single tree: it is usually red maple or silver maple, sometimes boxelder or bigleaf maple. Slabs we list simply as 'Maple' are most likely soft maple, but maple species are hard to tell apart once cut, so they could be hard maple. Ask and we'll tell you what we know about a specific slab.

What Soft Maple looks like

Pale cream to light tan sapwood with a darker reddish brown heartwood that is more common than in hard maple. Mineral streaks in gray or greenish tones show up often and add character.

Grain and texture

Fine, even texture and generally straight grain. Curly figure is fairly common in soft maple, and spalting is common in logs that sat before sawing.

Working Soft Maple: planing, cutting and gluing

Easier to cut and plane than hard maple while still feeling like maple. It glues and screws well. Curly boards tear out, so take light passes. Spalted or soft areas may need stabilizing before machining.

Finishing Soft Maple: oil, film finishes and epoxy

Clear oil or water-based finishes look great. Like all maples it can blotch with stain, so use a conditioner or gel stain. Its tight pores give little trouble under epoxy, but seal any soft or spalted spots first.

Durability, stability and Florida humidity

Not decay resistant; for indoor use. Moderate movement. In Florida, acclimate slabs inside and finish both faces evenly.

Shop notes from our Fort Myers shop

Plain 'Maple' slabs in our racks are most likely soft maple, often cut from the same logs as our ambrosia maple. They make bright, clean table tops and are a great canvas for colored epoxy because the light wood shows the resin's color. We flatten them on the CNC without much drama. If a project really needs the dent resistance of hard maple, tell us and we'll steer you to the right boards.

Common uses for Soft Maple

Furniture, cabinetry, table tops, millwork, turnings, and paint-grade or stained projects where hard maple is overkill.

Sustainability and CITES status

Not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Safety and toxicity

Our toxicity rating LowWhat the ratings mean
  • Skin irritation
  • Respiratory / asthma

Maple is a mild irritant for most people, with occasional asthma from the dust. Spalted maple is a special case: some spalted logs carry a mold whose spores can cause a serious lung reaction, so use a real respirator on spalted stock.

In the shop
Dust collection + mask; respirator for spalted maple
Food contact
Good choice for cutting boards, bowls and utensils

General information, not medical advice. See a doctor if you have a reaction.

Maple dust can irritate skin and airways in some people. Use dust collection and a mask.

Wood toxicity and dust safety guide: every species compared

Soft Maple in stock now

Live edge slabs in stock (2)

Want to see them in person? Book a slab & lumber visit.

Similar woods: Maples

See the Maples group guide

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