ForMatter/Materials/wood/Hard Maple (Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum)
mat_maple_hard

Hard Maple (Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum)

diffuse-porous hardwood, closed-grain · sugar maple, rock maple, Acer saccharum
highlast updated 2026-04-26
metallic 0.00
hue shift +0°

The wood of bowling alleys, butcher blocks, basketball courts, and kitchen cabinets. Pale, dense, even-grained, no strong figure unless figured selections are picked (curly, birdseye). Takes wear that would dent oak. Glues and finishes cleanly.

Diffuse-porous hardwood with very fine, evenly distributed pores. Janka hardness ~1450 lbf — among the hardest North American commercial hardwoods. Dense enough to dull tooling that handles oak fine. Common for cutting boards, gym flooring, instrument bodies.

mechanical

  • density_kg_m3705
  • modulus_of_elasticity_gpa12.6
  • modulus_of_rupture_mpa109
  • janka_hardness_lbf1450
source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, *Wood Handbook* (FPL-GTR-282, 2021)

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg0.4
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • recyclabilityhigh — reusable, biodegradable, carbon-storing while in service
  • biodegradableTrue
  • certificationsFSC, PEFC, SFI
  • localitynortheastern United States, eastern Canada
visual
creamy white sapwood (the prized portion), light tan heartwood, subtle figure unless special grade
tactile
smooth, almost waxy under sanding, reads as 'kitchen' to most students
weight perception
heavy
acoustic
bright tap, the reason maple is the back-and-side wood of many violins

PBR starter values

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere woodgrain finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material.

# finish:      woodgrain
albedo        #d8b88a
metallic      0.00
roughness     0.60
ior           1.45
transmission  0.00
clearcoat     0.00
sheen         0.00
anisotropic   0.60
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#d8b88a",
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.6,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.6
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Hard Maple (Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum) · finish: woodgrain
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_maple_hard")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.6867, 0.4793, 0.2542, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.600
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.600
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Hard Maple (Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum) · finish: woodgrain
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_maple_hard", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (216, 184, 138))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     0.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.600)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Hard Maple (Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum) \u00b7 finish: woodgrain",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.6867,
    "g": 0.4793,
    "b": 0.2542
  },
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.6,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.6,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_maple_hard",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.6867,
          0.4793,
          0.2542,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 0.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.6
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Hard Maple (Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum) · finish: woodgrain
def Material "mat_maple_hard" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_maple_hard/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.6867, 0.4793, 0.2542)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 0.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.600
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
ProcessCNC Milling · Adhesive Bonding · Laser Cutting
Used inChair
Substitutes
White Oak (Quercus alba)
Baltic Birch Plywood

Citations

  • book · USDA Forest Products Laboratory, *Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material* (FPL-GTR-282, 2021).