Lumber Maple 33 mm

The sugar maple is America's most popular tree and is known for its syrup, or syrop as the French explorer called it. In late winter, the trees are bored so that the sap runs out. A medium-strength tree yields about 50 litres of sap per year, from which 1 kg of sugar is extracted by thickening. Sugar production is no longer as important today as it was at the turn of the century, but it is still economically important.

Trade names and other names

Abbreviation DIN EN 13556: ACSC
 Botanical name: Acer saccharum
 German: amerikanischer Ahorn, kanadischer Ahorn, Hard Maple, Bird's Eye Maple
 English: rock maple, hard maple, bird's eye maple, blister maple, curly maple, canadian maple
 French: érable d'amérique, érable mouscheté, érable piqulé
 Italian: acero de zucchero, acero americano
 Spanish: arce con ampollas, arce de azúcar, arce duro, arce moteado, maple duro
 Portuguese: bordo-açucareiro
 Dutch: n.a.

Technical wood properties

Weight fresh/green: 830 - 1040 kg/m³
Density air dry (12-15% u): 570 - 700 kg/m³
Tensile strength: n.a.
 Compressive strength: 51 - 56 N/mm²
Bending strength: 100 - 110 N/mm²
Shear strength: 14 - 16 N/mm²
Hardness according to Brinell BII: n.a.
 Hardness according to Brinell B⊥: n.a.
 Differential shrinkage (radial): 0.10 - 0.20%
 Differential shrinkage (tangential): 0.22 - 0.30%
 Natural durability (DIN-EN 350-2): 5, not durable

Values of the technical properties of a wood species refer to a wood moisture content of u ≅12% to 15%. Data without guarantee.

Occurrence

Sugar maple is the most important maple species in North America and grows there in the eastern part, from Newfoundland to the Gulf of Mexico, but is absent in Florida.

Trunk and bark

The sugar maple tree reaches a height of 30 to 40 m and a diameter of up to approx. 1 m. It only occurs in association with other hardwoods. The bark of the sugar maple is light-coloured and thin.

Characteristics and wood colour

The structure is short and straight grained, the texture very fine, dense and even. The sapwood and heartwood are slightly different in the sugar maple. The sapwood is light-coloured, almost white, while the heartwood is light reddish to reddish brown.

Replacement woods

European maple or sycamore, soft maple, birch, hornbeam, boxwood

Literature

• Wood Atlas | 6th edition in 2006 | Rudi Wagenführ
• Wood science volume 1-3 | 1982 | Hans Heinrich Bosshard
• Properties and core sizes of wood species | 1989 | Jürgen Sell / Lignum Switzerland