The best types of wood for CNC processing

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of maple interior items:

• the wood does not warp or crack;
• the structure allows you to easily process and manufacture a variety of products from the material;
• the furniture turns out to be quite resistant to many environmental influences due to the fact that it is subjected to grinding and polishing;
• Interior items are distinguished by their durability; you won’t have to change them often, which will save money;
• attractive price - maple furniture is not too expensive, which allows you to purchase sofas, cabinets, tables without huge expenses;
• The beautiful texture and color of the furnishings will decorate any home and are suitable for all interior styles.

The main disadvantage of furniture is that it is not resistant to damage by insects, pests, and rot. To avoid these problems, products are impregnated with special agents.

Types of wood for CNC processing

There are 3 main categories of wood for woodworking: hardwood, softwood and engineered wood.

Hardwood

A deciduous tree is an angiosperm plant, more commonly called a broadleaf tree. Examples include oak, birch and maple. These tree species are often used to make high-quality furniture, decking, flooring and building components.

Coniferous wood

Coniferous wood is a coniferous tree, sometimes called a gymnosperm. They are generally less dense than hardwoods and therefore easier to work with. Don't let the name fool you: some softwoods are harder than hardwoods. It is for this reason that speed and feed tables for end mills are classified according to the Janke hardness scale. Janka hardness is a modified hardness scale with a test specifically designed to classify types of wood.

Softwood is used to make furniture, but can also be used to make doors, window frames and paper products. A couple of examples are pine and cedars. The table below lists 20 common wood species and their Janka hardness.

Table 1: Hardness of ordinary wood according to Janka

Varieties

Maple is easily amenable to various types of processing, and is also slightly superior to oak in terms of mechanical properties. Wood becomes pliable when treated with steam, which makes it possible to produce interior items of various shapes. In some cases, the color may change to yellowish-brown during this process. It is considered a valuable type of wood, but is not used so often due to its instability to damage and possible color change.

Maple is used to produce veneer in furniture production. It is a popular material for the manufacture of various cabinet furniture. Wardrobes are often made from it. Widely used in production:

• desks, coffee tables;
• cabinets, racks, chests of drawers, cabinets;
• beds;
• chairs.

The noble color of the wood allows you to make maple furniture for offices. She looks luxurious and elegant.

Ash maple

December 23, 2022 In our country, it is often called “Negundo maple,” “California maple,” “killer maple,” or incorrectly called ash. Its roots, and when rotting and litter, release arboricides (phytotoxicants that attack trees and shrubs). By settling, for example, in floodplain forests, it prevents the regeneration of our poplars and willows. And it is almost impossible to destroy the “killer”.

Ash-leaf maple, or American (lat. Acer negundo) is a species of the genus Maple, family Sapindaceae. This deciduous tree is native to central and eastern North America. It was introduced to other continents: South America, Australia, Africa and Eurasia. The species was brought to Russia in the 18th century, it self-sowed throughout the country and began to pose a threat to native plant species.

What does ash maple look like?

This tree is up to 10-25 m high, with a trunk diameter of 30-50 cm, rarely up to 1 m. Its appearance (hibitus) depends on the habitat. If the maple grows separately or in light, uncrowded forests, it is an upright tree with one well-developed trunk.

In close plantings, its trunk and crown , bending, occupy a convenient position in relation to the light and emerge from the shadow of other trees. Then it becomes twisted, with a drooping crown.

Often the trunk begins to branch at a level of 0.5-5 m from the ground, which is associated with damage to its top by pests, frosts or diseases. In this case, many shoots develop from dormant buds at the base of the trunk. Over time, most of them die off, leaving only 5-7 daughter trunks. Then the life form of the maple becomes outwardly similar to a bush.

The root system of the plant is fibrous and superficial, but strong, holding it well from windfall. Male trees produce numerous root suckers, which is why the species often forms impenetrable thickets. On loose soils, maple forms a short taproot with strong lateral shoots.

The trunk is covered with thin, pale gray or light brown bark , deeply grooved. Young annual shoots are dark green, with a bluish, reddish-brown or purple waxy coating, making them glossy. The wood is soft yellowish-green, the pith is white and friable.

buds are ovoid, fluffy, and white. Axillary buds are sessile, obtuse. Maple leaves are located opposite on the branches. They are somewhat similar to the leaves of an ash tree, hence its name - ash leaf.

The leaves are compound, deeply dissected, less often trifoliate, odd-pinnate, usually with 3, 5 or 7 toothed blades. They are silvery-white below, light green above, and yellow in autumn. They are held on petioles, 5-8 cm long.

Unlike most maples, this is a completely dioecious tree, blooming in March-April, long before the leaves bloom. Flowers are often without petals. Male (staminate) flowers with reddish anthers are collected in clusters, hanging on pedicels up to 6 cm long. Female (pistillate) greenish flowers are grouped into an inflorescence raceme, have thick short pedicels 6-8 mm long, which, when the fruit is formed, lengthen to 2-3 cm.

The fruits are paired lionfish, 3.5-4.8 mm long, diverging at an acute or right angle, with narrow straight nuts. At first green, when ripe they turn light brown. They ripen and fall in September, some of them remain on the tree throughout the winter.

Differences between ash-leaved maple and Norway maple (lat. Acer platanoides)

Norway maple is also widespread in our country and is often cultivated in gardens and parks. The differences between these two types are clearly visible. Here are just a few of them.

• Norway maple lives up to 150 years, American maple - no more than 100 years.
• The height of the Norway maple reaches 28 m, the ash-leaved maple does not exceed 25 m.
• The leaves of the Norway maple are simple lobed, while the leaves of the American maple are compound.
• The flowers of Norway maple are yellowish-green, while those of ash maple are either reddish or greenish.
• The buds of the Norway maple are reddish-green, while those of the ash maple are pubescent and white.
• Norway maple bark is rougher and more rugged.
• The single trunk and branches of the Norway maple are always directed upward; in the ash-leaved maple they are often curved, and there may be several daughter trunks.

Advantages and disadvantages of ash maple

American maple is a pollution-resistant, unpretentious soil composition, fast-growing species. But it still feels better in fertile, well-drained soils.

The maple reaches maturity by 10-15 years. But it does not live long, only 60, less often 100 years.

Prefers bright sunlight. It settles in floodplain meadows, near lakes and rivers, on human-disturbed lands, for example, in wastelands near settlements, in lowlands and other places with sufficient water.

Advantages of American maple:

• drought and smoke resistance;
• ability to grow on different types of soil;
• speed of spread by self-seeding and with the help of root suckers;
• the ability to clean the air well due to the high rate of photosynthesis;
• rapid decomposition of plant litter;
• high rate of biomass recovery after fires.

Disadvantages of ash-leaved maple:

• low frost resistance. Young shoots may freeze slightly in winter;
• for growth they need close-lying groundwater (no deeper than 2 m);
• high fragility of branches and susceptibility of roots to rot;
• fragility;
• a large amount of pollen that causes allergies in people;
• when parts of the tree decay, they produce poisons that prevent the growth of other plants;
• root growth disrupts the structure of plantings and spoils the asphalt;
• Wood is susceptible to infection by many types of pests.

Application

In its homeland in North America, maple was used as a sugar plant. In spring its juice is very sweet.

Maple wood is fragile, soft, light and fibrous. It is processed with great difficulty. It contains a lot of water and requires a long drying time. Therefore, it is almost never used as firewood. But its fibers are used to make fiberboard and containers.

The tree is unsuitable as a green hedge, since its active shoots appear in unplanned places, but it is suitable for quickly and cheaply achieving a landscaping effect.

It is indispensable for planting forest and windbreaks, to combat soil erosion, to strengthen the banks of reservoirs, etc.

Due to its early flowering, the species is suitable for planting near apiaries. Honey collected by bees from its flowers is sold in Belovezhya and Poland.

Despite irregularly shaped trunks, branches prone to breaking and many other disadvantages, the tree is actively used for urban landscaping.

Several interesting varieties have been developed that are superior in decorativeness to the main form:

"Auratum" is a variety with lemon-colored leaves, an arched trunk and twisting branches. "Aureomarginatum" leaf edges are creamy yellow. "Baron" is a seedless and hardier variety. “Elegans” the leaves of trees of this variety are convex, with a border, young ones are bright yellow, mature ones are white. "Flamingo" is a very popular form of maple with white and pink patterns on the leaves.

The developed decorative maple varieties are distinguished by high resistance to frost and other positive qualities. They are actively used as an object in landscape design.

Color spectrum

Wood color refers to light and warm shades. It is a light, slightly yellowish tint. Furniture of this color visually expands the space. Light shades make furnishings less bulky. The uniform texture and pleasant light tone of the product will make any room cozy.

In the interior, maple color goes well with many others. For example, a bright contrast can be created by using both maple and wenge. Light and dark always looks very impressive. When combining the colors of maple and mountain larch furniture, the room is filled with light due to the contrast of cold and warm shades.

Types of wood. Cutting depth.

Maximum cutting depth for different types of wood - Z = (X - deepening coefficient) * (D - cutter diameter in millimeters)

• Softwood: Pine, Spruce, Alder, Cedar, Linden, Aspen, Chestnut, Poplar, Fibreboard, MDF: Z = 1.5 * D
• Hard species: Oak, Beech, Cherry, Birch, Pear, Apple, Larch, Elm, Elm, Elm, Sycamore, Elf angustifolia, Rosewood, Plywood, Model. plastic: Z=1*D
• Hard: Walnut, Hornbeam, Ash, Wenge, Acacia, Boxwood, Maple, Rowan, Dogwood, Pistachio, Merbau, Bamboo, Muthenia: Z = 0.6 * D
• Very hard species: Walnut, Acacia, Amaranth, Ipe/Lapacho, Macassar, Olive, Yarra, Jatoba, Sucupira: Z = 0.5 * D

What styles is it suitable for?

Light shades of maple and its soft texture are suitable for all interior styles. A wardrobe, chest of drawers, nightstands and a bed will perfectly decorate a bedroom in Provence style. A kitchen set, dining table and light-colored chairs will create an atmosphere of comfort and warmth in the room.

Elite furniture models are made from maple by hand and decorated with figured carvings. They look especially luxurious in a classic style. Furniture for a children's room made of maple will be an excellent option. The room will look bright and cozy due to the color design of the interior items, which is important for a child’s room.

Wardrobes, shelving, tables, chests of drawers, and beds made of maple will look great in a room decorated in modern styles. The combination of light shades with dark ones, for example, wenge-maple, is especially popular.

Rules of care

The rules of care consist of the following points:

• Clean the products periodically with a damp cloth. After this, be sure to wipe dry. Water itself will not harm the product, but it can get into the seams and damage the base;
• in case of severe contamination, you can use a soap solution;
• It is not recommended to place tables, cabinets, shelves in rooms with high humidity;
• You should carefully protect furnishings from mechanical damage. If scratches occur, they can be treated with mastic;
• Do not use abrasives or solvents;
• Dry dust cleaning can be done using a vacuum cleaner, but only with a soft brush so as not to scratch the surface.

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