Blue Streaks in Sugar Maple

I would guess it’s due to minerals. I’ve seen colors like that in poplar before, but not in maple.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I had it in red oak before and was told it was fro wire or a nail left in the tree to rust. don’t know if its true or not

-- Joe, Ga

It was planted there by wood eating martians .. you better ship those slabs off to me in connecticut, ive got a friend who specializes in removing them.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

i’m pretty sure it’s mineral staining. i recently completed a set of 2 end tables that had something similar, it’s on this site if you want to compare it. i sold them at an arts and crafts fair this past week. while they were on display, a fellow from the forestry service came through shopping with his wife. i had him look it over. he agreed that it’s mineral staining, but he’d never seen it before in maple and had 30 years in the forestry service. i’ve worked a fair amount of maple and only came across it once. it must be pretty rare, yours is the only other piece i’ve seen like it.

It also looks like the stain left in all our Pine trees on the west coast by the Bark Beetle infestation

-- Ken

Sugar maple??? Make sure you scan this wood carefully for metal. I am originally from northern Ohio and we used to tap the suger maples for sap to make syrup. Can leave small pieces of metal in the wood. You are supposed to hang the buckets from the spout that is later removed but have seen people hang the buckets from a nail – that can be forgotten and grown over.

Just a thought

-- David in Damascus, MD

I have seen this blue staining in Doug Fir. We were able to use an industrial grade bleach – oxalic acid to remove it. Check out the paint dept. of most hardware stores to find this product. Mix the dry flakes in water & brush on the wood. Wear gloves & don’t get any in your eyes. Rinse off the wood with a wet rag & be careful sanding – may need to wear respirator.