Red Leaf Maple

[angelosart]

I just purchased a 18x32x2" red leaf maple slap that I am planning on using for a small display table.

Its my first time working with red leaf maple.  It has some knots that I plan to remove and fill with epoxy. Do you have any cautions and warning about working with it that are different from other species?

[Ninefingers_grapes]

I just purchased a 18x32x2" red leaf maple slap that I am planning on using for a small display table.

Its my first time working with red leaf maple.  It has some knots that I plan to remove and fill with epoxy.  Do you have any cautions and warning about working with it that are different from other species?

Wikipedia says"
Other uses[edit]


In the lumber industry Acer rubrum is considered a "soft maple", a designation it shares, commercially, with silver maple (A. saccharinum). In this context, the term "soft" is more comparative, than descriptive; i.e., "soft maple", while softer than its harder cousin, sugar maple (A. saccharum), is still a fairly hard wood, being comparable to Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) in this regard. Like A. saccharum, the wood of red maple is close-grained, but its texture is softer, less dense, and has not as desirable an appearance, particularly under a clear finish. However, the wood from Acer rubrum while being typically less expensive than hard maple, also has greater dimensional stability than that of A. saccharum, and also machines and stains easier. Thus, high grades of wood from the red maple can be substituted for hard maple, particularly when it comes to making stain/paint-grade furniture. Red maple lumber also contains a greater percentage of "curly" (aka "flame"/"fiddleback") figure, which is prized by musical instrument/custom furniture makers, as well as the veneer industry. As a soft maple, the wood tends to shrink more during the drying process than with the hard maples.
 

As a user of soft maple and cherry, I suggest using the hand plane and scrapers.  Make sure its dry to your area.  Best of luck in your project!

[MichaelMouse]

I just purchased a 18x32x2" red leaf maple slap that I am planning on using for a small display table.

Its my first time working with red leaf maple.  It has some knots that I plan to remove and fill with epoxy.  Do you have any cautions and warning about working with it that are different from other species?

May or may not be Acer rubrum,  which grows in lower land than the familiar sugar maple.  Lots of ornamentals with red leaves out there as well.  So if from the woods, might be a "red maple," which tends to have a larger bluish heart than A saccharum, but if it's an urban tree, could be any soft maple (you can make a thumbnail mark in it) planted for pretty.  Urban trees spread more, forcing the grain to be a bit more convoluted, so read it carefully when machining or hand planning.  I find myself using a toothing iron often, as the stuff pecks pretty well in stressed spots under limbs.  

I use bark where older branch roots have gaps.  Looks more natural than the "dead fish eye" you get with sawdust.