Which maple to choose for cabinets?

[Dennis Spector]

I don't know much about maple except that it's available "hard" or "soft". Which is generally used for cabinets? Is hard maple noticeably harder than red oak? Thanks, Denny

[Jim Wilson]

Hard.

Yes. Maple's about 1450 Janka, red oak is around 1290.

Jim

[Preston Andreas]

Soft maple has a Janka hardness of 950 which is comparable to teak or walnut. So, it isn't soft. Hard maple has a Janka hardness of 1450 as compared to Northern Red Oak at 1290. Either maple is fine for cabinets. However, soft maple tends to have more brown in it than does hard maple, so most consider it better for paint grade although it is used as a stain grade also. I don't know if it is just me, but I seem to get more tearout and interleaved grain with soft maple.