Wood species
Soft maple drawer boxes
Soft maple looks like Hard Maple, weighs less, costs less and dents a little easier. For a lot of drawers that is the right trade. We build soft maple boxes on custom and wholesale orders, quoted from your sizes and quantity.
Quick answer. Soft maple is the trade name for red maple and its relatives, a solid pale hardwood at about 950 Janka that looks like Hard Maple (Select Grade) at lower cost and weight. It is roughly as hard as cherry, takes stain a little more evenly than Hard Maple, and suits stained or painted maple interiors and lighter duty drawers. We dovetail it with 5/8 in sides and a 1/4 in captured bottom, cut to the 1/32 in in Las Vegas. It is not on the configurator; send sizes and quantity through the instant quote, the contact page or the trade portal and we quote it as a custom or wholesale order.
Soft maple vs Hard Maple
Hard Maple is one species, sugar maple. Soft maple is a group: red maple, silver maple and bigleaf maple on the West Coast, sold together because they behave alike. The two look so similar in a raw board that lumber graders sometimes tell them apart with a chemical test. In a drawer box the differences are practical rather than visual.
| Soft maple | Hard Maple (Select Grade) | |
|---|---|---|
| SPECIES | Red, silver and bigleaf maple | Sugar maple |
| JANKA | About 950 | About 1450 |
| WEIGHT | Noticeably lighter | Heavy |
| COLOR | Creamy white to light tan, more streaks and figure allowed | Creamy white, color sorted |
| STAIN | Takes stain a little more evenly | Blotches under pigment stain |
| DENTS | More easily | Rarely |
| ORDER | Custom or wholesale, quoted | Configurator, +$34.99, ships in about 4 to 5 days |
How soft maple looks
Pale. The sapwood is creamy white like Hard Maple, and the heartwood runs a little more toward light tan and gray. Because soft maple is not color sorted the way our Select Grade is, a box may show more mineral streak, a faint pink cast or a brown band than a Select box would. The grain is fine and closed, and soft maple is more likely than Hard Maple to carry figure: curl, quilt, and the dark trails of ambrosia beetle in some boards, which some customers seek out and others would rather not have. Tell us which camp you are in.
Hardness, weight and stability
About 950 on the Janka scale puts soft maple level with cherry, above alder and poplar, and about a third softer than Hard Maple at 1450. Baltic Birch at 1260 is harder. In use a soft maple side dents from a sharp knock that a Hard Maple side would not, though it outlasts most of what goes in a bedroom or bath drawer. Weight is the reason many people choose it: a soft maple box is noticeably lighter than the same box in Hard Maple (Select Grade), and on undermount runners rated by drawer plus contents that leaves more of the rating for the contents. Like all solid wood it moves a little across the grain with humidity, which is why a Baltic Birch bottom pairs well with it.
How it takes finish
A little better than Hard Maple under stain, which is the second reason people pick it. The slightly more open structure takes pigment more evenly, so a medium stain lands with less blotching, though a conditioner is still a good idea on any maple. Clear coats and paint both go on well. Under paint it is a firmer alternative to poplar. Our boxes ship sanded and unfinished; ask about finishing when you request the quote.
Which drawers it suits
- Stained maple interiors. Where the color will be adjusted anyway and the Select whiteness is wasted.
- Painted boxes that need more hardness than poplar.
- Bedroom, bath, office and closet drawers. Light to medium duty, where weight and cost matter more than dent resistance.
- Wholesale maple runs. Shops building in maple that want solid dovetails at a lower material cost than Hard Maple.
How we build it
- Sides. 5/8 in solid soft maple; 1/2 in and 3/4 in on request.
- Corners. True interlocking dovetails at all four corners.
- Bottom. 1/4 in captured in a groove on all four sides; 1/2 in available.
- Tolerance. Cut to the 1/32 in.
- Slide prep. Side mount clearance, or notched and drilled for the undermount runner you name.
- Finish. Sanded, assembled, unfinished.
Bottoms that pair with soft maple
- Baltic Birch, 1/4 in. Light, stable, blends with the pale sides. The usual pick.
- Baltic Birch, 1/2 in. Wide or heavy drawers.
- Maple. Ask us for a matched maple bottom on furniture work.
- Melamine. White or HardRock Maple for a wipe clean floor that blends with the sides; black also available.
How to order soft maple boxes
Measure and count
Width, depth and height to the 1/32 in per box, quantity, and the slides. The measuring guide covers it.
Request a quote
Send it through the instant quote or contact us and name soft maple. Trade accounts use the trade portal; volume runs go through wholesale.
We confirm and build
Soft maple is quoted per job with no published lead time. We confirm sizes, bottom and slide prep, then cut and dovetail in Las Vegas.
In a hurry? Hard Maple (Select Grade) ships in about 4 to 5 days, Baltic Birch in about 2 to 4.
Soft maple against the stocked standards
| Soft maple | Baltic Birch | Hard Maple (Select Grade) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHAT IT IS | Solid hardwood | Multi ply birch panel | Solid hardwood |
| COLOR | Creamy white to light tan | Pale blonde, striped edge | Creamy white |
| JANKA | About 950 | About 1260 | About 1450 |
| WEIGHT | Medium light | Light | Heavy |
| STAIN | Fairly even with a conditioner | Clear or paint | Blotches under pigment stain |
| ORDER | Quoted, custom or wholesale | Configurator, about 2 to 4 days | Configurator, +$34.99, about 4 to 5 days |
Related: Natural Hard Maple if you want Hard Maple strength with the character left in, Baltic Birch vs Hard Maple for the two standards, and the wood species page for everything we mill.
In photos
What soft maple looks like
Questions
Is soft maple the same as Hard Maple?
No. Hard Maple is sugar maple; soft maple is red, silver and bigleaf maple. They look alike, but soft maple is about a third softer at 950 Janka, lighter, and takes stain a little more evenly.
Can I order soft maple on the configurator?
No. Soft maple is built on custom and wholesale orders and quoted from your sizes and quantity. Use the instant quote, the contact page or the trade portal.
Is soft maple hard enough for a kitchen drawer?
For most of them, yes. It is as hard as cherry and holds up to daily use. For a heavy pot drawer or a shop drawer that takes real abuse, Hard Maple (Select Grade) or Baltic Birch is the tougher pick.
Will a soft maple box match my Hard Maple doors?
Close enough that most people cannot tell, especially under a stain or a clear coat. Soft maple can show a little more streak and figure than Select Grade Hard Maple; say so if you need the boxes as clean as the doors.
Quote a soft maple drawer box
The maple look at less weight, dovetailed, cut to the 1/32 in in our Las Vegas shop. Send sizes and quantity and we quote it.