# Alternative to Maple?



## bringitonhome

Hi folks-
I was wondering if someone could recommend a substitute for hard maple. Looking for something lighter, and cheaper if possible. This is for some trim work. I've already done all of the "eye-level" trim (window and door casings) with maple, and dyed them a dark brown. Now that I'm doing the crown and base, I'd like to get something that's a bit easier to work with, and that will be easier to hang on the ceiling. One of the doorways has a pine door which i dyed with the same product. It's a pretty close match since it's such a dark color, so I guess I could always use that if I have to.

Just wondering if there was a hardwood that has a less grain, and is closer to the white/creamy color of maple.

thx.


----------



## chrisstef

poplar?


----------



## Dandog

Poplar is green some times but you can find some real white peaces or pine and use a little 50/50 bleach and water then clean it off after about 10 min with borax soap.


----------



## Bertha

As above, poplar is my favorite working wood for mock-ups or hidden structural pieces. I've found some exceptionally clear and stable pieces at the big box stores. It machiines well & is very forgiving on hand tools. It's quite a bit lighter than hard maple but it's not "light" by any stretch. It will, of course, dent more easily than maple & a few pieces of mine have resisted even staining. There's a chisel chest in my projects section that's built entirely from cheap poplar from Lowe's. Good luck!


----------



## oldworld124

soft maple is a lot easier to work than hard maple. It is still hard and will hold up to abuse.


----------



## superstretch

+1 for poplar. Just watch out for the green stuff.. it does some funky things when staining or whatever else you might have in mind


----------



## bringitonhome

Hm. I've never seen poplar that was anything but bright green. Will look into it.


----------



## HokieMojo

I had poplar plywood that was almost as white as my holly. If you apply an oil based stain, it will turn quite yellow so if you want to preserve the color, go with a water based finish.


----------



## pete79

I'd vote for birch as well. There's a toybox in my projects section made out of solid birch and birch ply - some is stained, some is not.


----------



## Ollie

Sycamore is great, sometimes you can find it with tiger, or ripple effect just like maple but a bit whiter.


----------



## Earlextech

Soft maple or birch!


----------



## Brrman

The green poplar usually turns brown/yellow over time.

I would suggest birch as well.


----------



## bringitonhome

Ok, I found this list - http://www.globalwood.org/tech/tech_wood_weights.htm 
seems that birch is almost as heavy as maple.

So i guess it breaks down like this:

Maple: Heavy, Expensive, The real deal
Birch: Heavy, cheap(?), looks very much like maple
Poplar: Light, moderately cheap, looks sorta like maple
Pine: very light, cheap, looks the least like maple


----------



## reberly

I would recommend red maple. Cheaper as a "soft maple" but just as white. 
Rich


----------



## SCR0LL3R

Maple and birch are the same price around here. But if you can get birch cheaper, it behaves much the same as maple and may be the most similar you can find without going more expensive. I also have some grey elm that I can hardly tell from maple but that's more expensive around here.


----------



## tyskkvinna

I would just use pine… I did that in my house a few years ago and with the staining it looked just like some of the other hardwoods that were also stained dark. I've found it's also pretty easy to manipulate to match a colour… and it's pretty inexpensive.


----------



## levan

I don't think I would use the softer woods at base board. To much danger of it getting dinged up.


----------



## MOJOE

What about aspen…..the home depot here in KC carries it, and it seems easy to work.


----------



## closetguy

I've used Basswood many times as a maple substitute when the project is to be stained. It's generally much cheaper than maple, machines well, and has a similar grain pattern.


----------

