hard or soft maple

[charlie spencer]

A friend wants a maple dining table with a finish similar to a golden oak or a honey amber. I have never stained maple , although I have painted it successfully and I enjoy working with it.
Please share your experiences with me as far as finishing schedule and hard/soft .
Thanks

[Prashun Patel]

First, I'd use hard maple. Soft can have patches of grey that can be objectionable to some.

Given his color preference, and maple's propensity for causing stain problems, I'd experiment with this:

Boiled Linseed Oil for a little color and to bring out grain.
Amber shellac for more color and sealing
Oil based varnish as a top coat.

I sound like a broken record touting Waterlox recently, but it makes great sense in this case because of its strength and dark color. If yr spraying, then Waterlox might not be appropriate.

[charlie spencer]

That is about what I expected to hear. I love waterlox although lap marks can be challenging. I have been very pleased with Transtint dye in shellac. Any thoughts on that method of adding color?

[Jimmy Williams]

I am putting the finishing touches on a soft maple desk right now that is similar in color to what you are describing and did not get any blotching.

I started with a dewaxed shellac thinned to 1 part shellac to 3 parts denatured alcohol. Then two coats of the General Finishes waster based dye stain (Light Brown). Followed by another coat of the shellac (not thinned but straight out of the can) and then three coats of the Waterlox Satin.

I sprayed the shellac and waterlox with no problems. I did wind up wiping the stain on. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet as I just finished the final coat of waterlox last night. Look for pictures in the Completed Projects section later this week.

I do have to go back and sand out a stupid bug that landed right in the middle of the desk top and re-spray it but the rest came out looking great.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm no expert, but my wife recently refinished some sugar maple dressers. Sher was getting pretty blotchy results. Someone on the 'creek recommended MinWax wood conditioner as a first coat. She stripped everything back, used the conditioner, then the finish went on perfectly...

[charlie spencer]

The conditioner is obviously a big help- thanks

[Prashun Patel]

Jimmy's method of putting on a thinned coat of shellac also acts as a prestain conditioner.

If I were going to dye, I'd just put the Transtint in water and sponge it on. I find it easier to control that way. You shld raise the grain before though.

You can certainly dye shellac, but I've not had luck in applying dye in alcohol (which is what the shellac solution'd be like) unless it's sprayed.

[Jimmy Williams]

Charlie - I took a picture of the top tonight to show you what two coats of the General Finishes - dye stain turned the soft maple if you follow the schedule I posted earlier. Good luck on your build

[Joe Chritz]

Sealcoat and stain
Dye in water

Of those I prefer the dye on maple.

Test boards, test boards and one more test board.

Joe