On page 14 of "RUSHTON, INDIAN GIRL CANOES"--- the green book from the WCHA store, it shows a picture of his paddles and states that they used Adirondack White Maple exclusively. Fred
Don't know! I have two that came with the IG that I'm finishing up now, and they look like the picture in the book. I have convinced myself that they are made of White Maple. However, there are no signs of any ID markings on them. Fred
Knowing that Rushton tended to mark everything in his canoes--- stem bands, flag holders... even the thwart of our IG is marked--- I'd guess his paddles had something more permanent than a decal. But if that was true, maybe we'd see them up for sale once in a while...
I suspect he was using Red Maple (Acer rubrum) rather than Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) or Black Maple (Acer nigrum). Some authors consider Black Maple to be a variety of Sugar Maple. Red Maple is by far the most abundant tree species in the Northeast United States. It is less dense than Sugar Maple, has a little more spring and is cheaper in cost. Visually it is a little more “whiter” than Sugar Maple. It is often called “soft maple,” Sugar Maple being called “hard maple.”
Just my 2 cents worth being an old forestry school grad.
Here, in the foothils of the Adirondacks, we call it Soft Maple, or Red Maple. A dream to work, much more forgiving than Rock or Sugar maple. (Acer Sacc)
The term "Hard Maple" is used for Sugar Maple and Black Maple. The other Maples, Red, Silver, Norway etc are considered "Soft Maple". This includes the softest, Ash Leaf Maple, which in many areas is called "Box Elder".