What finish

[Ray Bell]

What finish would you use on maple that would not darken it much, but still pop the figure? Sorry if this has already been discussed, too lazy to search.

[John Keeton]

Ray, I would probably use brush on lacquer, or shellac. The shellac will have a slight amber tone. You could also use some of the waterbased acrylic finishes, but I have no experience with those. They probably will raise the grain a little, and after the first coat, you may need to lightly sand to knock down the nubs.

[Bernie Weishapl]

John is right that lacquer or waterbased acrylics won't darken the wood but have found that it won't pop the grain like a oil finish will. I just finished a table top with Clear Seal waterbased poly acrylic and it did not discolor the maple at all. It is a clear waterbased finish for floors and it is tough. It will raise the grain with the first coat and must be sanded. I sanded with 400 grit ROS on each thin coat I applied. I am going to try it on some turnings to see how it works.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm assuming there's some curl in the maple. Jeff Jewitt described a method to pop curly maple by dyeing with a diluted aniline dye, then sanding back, then oiling, then topcoating. I have not tried, but I bet you'd get much of the pop but none of the yellowing by dyeing, sanding back, and going to lacquer or a wb topcoat. Sanding takes out the color from the nonporous areas and leaves it in the curliest parts.

[Ray Bell]

Thank you for the replies.

[Cathy Schaewe]

I just used a wb-acrylic on a maple bowl where I wanted to keep the color as white as possible. I'm happy with the color, but it does look plasticky. I'll post a pic in the next day or two.

[Rob Cunningham]

Blonde or super blonde shellac should pop the grain without changing the color.

[John Keeton]

I just used a wb-acrylic on a maple bowl where I wanted to keep the color as white as possible. I'm happy with the color, but it does look plasticky. I'll post a pic in the next day or two.That is because it is plastic!!:D;)

Just ribbin' ya!! I do look forward to seeing the piece. I almost got a can of that finish, and backed off. It will be good to have yours for a test run.