Finishing Soft Maple

[Keith Gwin]

I need help finishing a dresser project that I am working on. The dresser is made of maple plywood sides and a soft maple faceframe and top. I should have probably used hard maple but decided to use what I had. My wife wants it finished dark so I have heard that I should use a dye stain rather than a pigmented stain. Is this true and can I put poly over the stain to give it some help with dings?

[Casey Gooding]

If you use a water-based dye, you can apply poly or lacquer over it without any problems.

[glenn bradley]

+1 on dyes for maple. Once you hit it with the topcoat it really comes alive.

[Tony Bilello]

Alcohol based dye stains are difficult to get used to, I dont know anything about water based dye stains.
Alcohol based dyes literally disappear after you apply them and you dont know for sure how light or dark your piece will be until you hit it with a finish. If you are not used to it, it could come out in wide bands of light and dark.

[Scott Holmes]

TransTint liquid dyes are both water and alcohol soluble.

Alcohol dries fast and doesn't raise the grain. You need to be careful over lapping will leave streaks.

Water dries slower and is easier to get a consistant color. IT does RAISE the grain.
First time using dye water is easier.

I use alcohol 90% of the time. Grain raising on soft maple may be intense. Ditto on the plywood.

Dye the wood let it completely dry. Then, give it 2 coats of finish; then knock the raised grain off. Trying to sand dyed wood will cause color streaks.

[Brian J McMillan]

If you use water based dye stain a good trick is to dampen the end grain just before staining. This helps to even out the penatration.

[Kent A Bathurst]

If you use water based dye stain a good trick is to dampen the end grain just before staining. This helps to even out the penatration.

Another approach is to sand end grain to 220+ (semi-burnishing the fibers) and use a light shellac seal coat. Works fine for me with water-based dye.

[Jim Becker]

I do recommend a dye instead of a pigment stain on close-grained woods like maple. BTW, poly will not do anything to help with "dings" any more than another film finish will. It has a little more abrasion resistance, since it was originally developed for floors, but it's not any more durable than non-poly varnish or a hand-full of other options available to you.