Handmade Wood Furniture Custom Crafted in Vermont

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Maple Wood

Overview

Ambrosia Maple wood, also called hard maple or sugar maple, is a very dense and durable, light colored wood-- creamy white to yellow. Over time maple may take on slight amber tones. Maple wood has a generally straight grain, although occasionally the grain is rippled or swirled and that is often referred to as figured sugar maple, such as: "tiger", "flame" or "curly" maple, depending on the patterns in the wood. Another figured maple wood is spalted maple which has dark veins caused by a pattern of rot or bacteria in the wood. Spalted maple wood is very decorative as it often looks like a pen and ink drawing through the wood. Unless specified however, our furniture will be made with hard maple that has a generally straight grain, rather than with figured maple.

Natural Maple Heartwood versus Sapwood Grain

Cross section of a Maple tree

It is not uncommon to find different grain contrasts in the same piece of solid maple wood furniture. The lighter grain was closer to the tree’s bark (sapwood) and the slightly darker grain was closer to the tree’s center (heartwood). The contrast between heartwood and sapwood is usually not extreme-- for example it generally ranges from paper white to creamy white to tan. As you can see in this picture of a cross section of a maple tree, the contrast is much less than for a cherry tree.

Natural Maple Wood Furniture

Our craftsmen typically use maple wood that is grown right here in Vermont, as it is native to our Green Mountain Forest and grows in abundance here. Your maple furniture may well come from a sugar maple tree that was tapped for many years to produce sap for Vermont's world famous maple syrup.

Check out photos of our maple wood furniture, for example:

Each piece of furniture on our website can be custom made in maple wood, even if the feature photos show cherry, oak or walnut wood.

Learn More About Maple Wood Furniture on Our Blog