I'm no syrup expert, but my vague understanding was that rock maple was the one that made the syrup, and red and silver maple aren't normally used for that. Of course, I could be wrong- I got it from a field guide for identifing trees, and they didn't go into much detail.
that "make your own" link was just the ticket.
Not quite. Most commercial "soft" maple is red maple. But Chuck said specifically that this is a *silver* maple (check title of thread) - which is softer than any ash, and only slightly harder than sycamore.
*All* maples can be used to make syrup. Some work better than others. The hard maples (sugar maple, black maple) have the highest sugar content and thus make the best syrup. Silver maple is the next sweetest, but its sugar content is only about half that of sugar maple, so it takes about twice as much sap to make syrup. Other varieties have even lower sugar levels, but they all have some sugar.
I've been making maple syrup from my own trees for several years now. We have one black maple, half a dozen sugar maples, one red maple, four or five silvers, and two Norways in our yard. The only ones I bother tapping are the sugars and the one black. The sweetest sap, and the highest volume, both come from the black maple.
What's your syrup yield from silver maple? I'm tapping five sugar maples and one black maple, and my yield runs a bit under 4 oz syrup from a gallon of sap (about 35:1 boil-down).
I agree it is an underrated wood. Around 50% of the last batch I got had really noticeable figure once it was planed nicely. That was a heck of a bargain since it was one of the cheapest woods in the store. To my tastes, the working qualities were excellent too. Some references list it as moderately difficult to work, but I don't know why. The streaks aren't bad if they are compatible with the style of the project--OK if you are going for a rustic, close to the wood look, but I felt compelled to cut them out for a more elegant coffee table I was making for my mom at the time. I found enough figured wood to make the maple part of the top all figured. It wasn't a heavy quilted figure, but it was enough to be really eye catching under Rock Hard varnish. I'm pretty well disgusted with poplar and won't be buying much more of that. Soft maple is superior in every way. Now I just have to go through all the hardwood dealers to see if anyone sells it around here, which is actually kind of funny since the tree is literally like a weed around here.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.