American Rock Maple

Originally Posted by Larry McCully

Or anything that looks like it or simular. Hey trev, do you know of anything?

Ummm......Nope.

Try Marshalls Timber at Cardiff. Talk to Bruce. Tell him I sent ya.

G'day, Larry.

Sounds like an interesting gig this American Rock Maple.

Although, you could always talk them into American Oak, which, by the way, happens to be my favorite timber to sand.

Anyway, give this crowd a bell http://www.brittontimbers.com.au/home.aspx?page=home

Let us all know how you get along and take a #### load of pictures.

As I understand it, bowling lanes used to use rock maple in the impact area (the first 20' or so), but it was superceded by the creation of aluminium lanes with plastic surfaces. If my information is correct, the main impetus for the change was the lack of avaiability of good rock maple.

Yup, bowling lanes are/were Rock Maple - I have several here at home, complete with the walnut aiming guides in it. The cost of it is brutal if buying it off the shelf I am told. We are going to use it as benchtop material in our new kitchen - good conversation piece and BLOODY tough!

After the first impact surface, the rest of the lanes are made from what Americans call Southern Yellow Pine - I can't tell the difference between it and Radiata, so I am guessing that's what it is.

Originally Posted by Larry McCully

Hmmmmm, i forgot what i needed it for now.

hi and welcome to the forum - I have not installed anything into our kitchen design as yet but I doubt the issue is with your friend's timber .... more likely it has to do with the type of sealer used .... the black is possibly mold, which isn't encouraging. I have used timber for benches for years now including ones with sinks installed. I did have one issue once with a benchtop but that was because the owners added a sink and did not seal it correctly.

RULE OF THUMB: Remember the old adage "Touch wood?" where we usually knock our knuckle on a table? If you are actually touching wood on a bench, tabletop or other piece of furniture then the finish has failed - the most important protector to wood is its finish unless the timber is Teak or something equally weather resistant.

Kitchens have such a vast range of conditions occurring in them that it is practically impossible for wear not to take place, but there are a lot of products out there that can help. The last benchtop I did in timber, I used flooring grade clear polyurethane to seal it. After a year it still looks great, but obviously has some dings and scrapes on it. It is likely to need refinishing in a couple of years I guess, but that's totally fine ...