Hard Maple vs Soft Maple: Janka, Density and Shrinkage Data

Hard maple (sugar maple, Acer saccharum) rates 1,450 lbf on the Janka scale and weighs about 44 lb/ft3 dried. Soft maple is a market label for several species, mostly red maple at 950 lbf, bigleaf maple at 850 lbf and silver maple at 700 lbf. Hard maple is the pick for cutting boards, workbench tops and flooring. Soft maple is the cheaper, easier-to-machine choice for painted furniture, trim and cabinet parts. This page puts the real species numbers side by side.

Hard Maple vs Soft Maple at a Glance

The table below uses published figures from The Wood Database for each species. “Soft maple” is not one tree, so each row is a separate species, and which one you get at the lumberyard depends on where you live. In the eastern US it is usually red or silver maple, while on the West Coast it is typically bigleaf maple.

Species	Class	Janka (lbf)	Avg. dried weight (lb/ft3)	Bending strength, MOR (lbf/in2)	Shrinkage: radial / tangential / volumetric	T/R ratio
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)	Hard maple	1,450	44	15,800	4.8% / 9.9% / 14.7%	1.9
Red maple (Acer rubrum)	Soft maple	950	38	13,400	4.0% / 8.2% / 12.6%	2.1
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)	Soft maple	850	34	10,700	3.7% / 7.1% / 11.6%	1.9
Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)	Soft maple	700	33	8,900	3.0% / 7.2% / 12.0%	2.4

Source: The Wood Database species pages for hard maple, red maple, bigleaf maple and silver maple. Janka is the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood. Shrinkage is green to oven-dry. The T/R ratio is tangential shrinkage divided by radial shrinkage.

Soft Maple Is Not Actually Soft

The name causes more confusion than any other fact about these woods. “Soft” only means softer than hard maple. Red maple at 950 lbf has the same Janka rating The Wood Database lists for black cherry, and black walnut sits at 1,010 lbf, so a good piece of red maple is in the same hardness neighborhood as two of the most respected North American cabinet woods.

The spread inside the soft maple group is just as important as the gap to hard maple. Silver maple at 700 lbf is about 26 percent softer than red maple at 950 lbf, so two boards both sold as “soft maple” can behave quite differently. Hard maple is roughly 1.5 times as hard as red maple and about twice as hard as silver maple. The Wood Database attributes the gap largely to growth rate: hard maple grows about half as fast as most soft maples, and that slower growth also explains much of the price difference.

A Gap That Is Wider for Dents Than for Strength

Here is an angle most comparisons miss. Using the table above, red maple is about 86 percent as dense as hard maple (38 vs 44 lb/ft3) and about 85 percent as strong in bending (13,400 vs 15,800 lbf/in2). But its Janka rating is only about 66 percent of hard maple (950 vs 1,450 lbf). In other words, switching from hard maple to red maple costs you very little in weight and bending strength, but a lot of dent resistance.

That points to a simple rule. For parts that mainly carry load, such as shelves, rails, stretchers and frames, red maple gives up little. For surfaces that take impacts, such as a workbench top, a butcher block or a floor, the hardness gap is the number that matters, so hard maple earns its price. Silver maple is the exception: at 8,900 lbf/in2 it is only about 56 percent as strong in bending as hard maple, so be more conservative with long spans.

Shrinkage: Hard Maple Moves More

One result surprises people. Hard maple is the densest of the group, yet it also has the highest tangential shrinkage (9.9 percent, compared with 7.1 to 8.2 percent for the soft maples listed above). The denser, “better” wood is not the more dimensionally stable one.

To put that in workshop terms, the estimate below assumes a 12-inch-wide flat-sawn panel that swings 4 percentage points in moisture content over the year (say 6 to 10 percent), and scales the published green-to-dry tangential shrinkage in a straight line over a roughly 30 percent fiber saturation range. It is a planning estimate, not a measured value.

Species	Tangential shrinkage	Estimated seasonal width change, 12 in flat-sawn panel (4-point moisture swing)
Sugar maple (hard)	9.9%	0.16 in
Red maple	8.2%	0.13 in
Silver maple	7.2%	0.12 in
Bigleaf maple	7.1%	0.11 in

Hard maple therefore moves about 38 percent more than silver maple across the same panel (9.9 divided by 7.2). On a wide tabletop or workbench, plan for that with breadboard ends, elongated screw holes or a floating panel design. Silver maple has the highest T/R ratio (2.4), which means the gap between its tangential and radial movement is the largest in the group, so it is the species most prone to cupping and twisting as it dries.

How to Tell Hard Maple From Soft Maple: Weigh the Board

Hard and soft maple look very similar, and The Wood Database notes they are tough to tell apart by appearance, especially in finished pieces. Its recommended approach is to weigh the wood, because Janka hardness tracks density closely. A soft maple board that happens to be as dense as hard maple will also be about as hard.

1. Measure the board and multiply length x width x thickness in inches to get cubic inches.
2. Weigh the board in pounds on a kitchen or postal scale. A bathroom scale with half-pound steps is too crude.
3. Divide 1,728 by your cubic inches, then multiply by the weight. That converts to pounds per cubic foot.
4. Compare the result with the ranges below.

Worked example from The Wood Database: a board 24 in long, 8 in wide and 0.75 in thick is 144 cubic inches. If it weighs 3.5 lb, multiplying by 1,728 / 144 = 12 gives 42 lb/ft3. That sits in the hard maple range.

Species	Average density at 12% moisture (lb/ft3)	Typical range, plus or minus 10% (lb/ft3)
Hard maple	44	39.6 to 48.4
Red maple	38	34.2 to 41.8
Bigleaf maple	34	30.6 to 37.4
Silver maple	33	29.7 to 36.3

Two cautions keep this method honest. First, the ranges overlap: red maple at its heavy end (41.8) lands inside hard maple at its light end (39.6), so a single small sample cannot give a certain answer. Weigh a larger board, or several. Second, the figures assume 12 percent moisture. Wetter wood weighs more and will read as denser than it is, which is why a moisture reading comes first. The fingernail test (press an edge hard; hard maple should barely dent) is only a crude backup because everyone’s nails and strength differ.

If you are trying to identify a standing tree rather than lumber, our hard maple vs soft maple bark guide covers bark and leaf clues.

Which Maple for Which Project

Project	Better pick	Why
Cutting boards and butcher blocks	Hard maple	The Wood Database lists cutting boards and butcher blocks among hard maple’s common uses; 1,450 lbf resists knife scoring and dents longer.
Workbench tops and flooring	Hard maple	Both take constant impact, which is where the wider Janka gap shows up.
Baseball bats and turned items	Hard maple	Listed among its common uses; density and stiffness matter more than price.
Painted cabinets, trim and moulding	Soft maple (red or bigleaf)	Paint hides color differences, the wood costs less, and it cuts and sands more easily.
Shelves, frames and furniture parts	Red maple is fine	Bending strength is within about 15 percent of hard maple.
Long spans under load	Hard maple or red maple	Silver maple is only about 56 percent as strong in bending.
Wide panels with limited movement allowance	Bigleaf or silver maple	Lowest tangential shrinkage in the table, at 7.1 and 7.2 percent.

Machining and Finishing Differences

• Tool wear and burning: maple of all kinds tends to burn when cut with high-speed cutters such as router bits. Hard maple is slightly harder to work, and soft maple will not dull edges as quickly or burn as readily.
• Staining: both can blotch. The Wood Database suggests a pre-conditioner, gel stain or toner for even color. Our maple staining guide walks through those options.
• Figure: birdseye is found most commonly in hard maple, while curly and quilted figure appear in both groups and cost more.
• Food-contact boards: see our butcher block finish options for what to put on a maple board.
• Dust: maples in the Acer genus have been reported to cause skin irritation, runny nose and asthma-like effects, so wear a dust mask and use dust collection when sanding.

For how maple stacks up against oak, hickory and other species, see our guide to how hard maple is. If your question is whether maple counts as a hardwood at all, the answer is covered in is maple a hard or soft wood, and the silver maple hardwood guide looks at the softest species in this comparison. Choosing a bat? See bamboo vs maple baseball bats.

Bottom Line

Choose hard maple when the surface will be hit, cut or walked on. Choose red or bigleaf maple when you want a hardwood that machines more easily and costs less, and watch silver maple on long, loaded spans. When the lumber is unlabeled, weigh a big board at known moisture and compare it with the density ranges above rather than trusting color or grain.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is soft maple still a hardwood?

Yes. Soft maple is a hardwood in the botanical sense, and red maple at 950 lbf has the same Janka rating The Wood Database lists for black cherry. “Soft” only means softer than hard maple.

How much harder is hard maple than soft maple?

Hard maple is rated 1,450 lbf. Red maple is 950, bigleaf maple 850 and silver maple 700, so hard maple is about 1.5 times as hard as red maple and about twice as hard as silver maple.

Can I use soft maple for a cutting board?

You can, but hard maple is the standard choice. Soft maple at 700 to 950 lbf is softer, so knife marks and dents will show up sooner. Silver maple, at 700 lbf, is the weakest option.

Which maple takes stain better?

Neither is easy. Both hard and soft maple can blotch, and a pre-conditioner, gel stain or toner may be needed to get an even color.

How can I tell hard maple from soft maple at the lumberyard?

Weigh a board, measure it and calculate its density. Hard maple averages 44 lb/ft3 while the common soft maples average 33 to 38 lb/ft3, but the ranges overlap, so test a large sample and account for moisture.