Maple and inlay and help please :)

[Jeffrey coil]

Hello I am to the finishing phase of my poker table which is hard maple. The race track and riser I have inset some inlay that I would like to keep mostly un colored. The pedestal is a nice 10 inch claw foot.
Bit of background, I am a newb when it comes to finishing, I have only really used wipe on on stain and have sprayed top coats. I do not have a lot of experience with all the product choices either. I do have the Fugi 4 stage turbine system that I have used as mentioned for top coats and paint. I am hoping you fellas could comment on this schedule and offer up specific products. Here is a pic of the inlay on the race track

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh263/jeffcjeffc/IMAG0117.jpg

I read the article by Jeff J on selective staining which talks about protecting the inlay. There are really two parts to this, 1 a good schedule for the finish (planning on transtint vintage maple) an 2 some tips on protecting the inlay. So here it goes

1). Have sanded to 220
2) protect the inlay with shelac several coats. Will mask the maple at this stage
3) remove masking from maple and mask inlay.
4) spray the dye. First ime doing this should I use water, DNA, or other
5) remove the mask and seal the project. What products here?
6) repeat the masking and apply some toners. Once again product advice would be a great help!
7) finish coats, yep products I can safely spray in my garage would be a great help!

Is this a good schedule for no inlay, omitting the masking steps?
Or file this approach in the trash and go with all experts suggestions!

But really any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Jeff

[Jamie Buxton]

Well, I think the maple looks good with the color nature gives it. That is, I wouldn't use all that dye and toner stuff. I'd just use that sprayer to shoot a good waterborne lacquer -- for instance Target Coatings EM8000. Waterbornes have very little of the amber color of solvent-borne varnish, so they leave the maple looking nice and light. They're also safe and easy to spray in your garage.

If you must dye, I HVLP Transtint dyes using alcohol as the carrier. For even coverage, set the fan control on the gun to max, and keep the gun a little further back from the workpiece than when you spray lacquer. DNA is toxic, not to speak explosive, so do this with the garage doors open. Fortunately, you'll be spraying very little of the stuff, so it isn't very dangerous. If you like dye on the maple, why don't you like the dye on the inlay? Perhaps you should just dye everything -- again avoiding the masking steps. The issue with masking for me has always been that color leaks under the tape, or wicks through the wood.

[Jeffrey coil]

Thanks for the reply. I.am going run a.few pieces going directly.over the inlay. I think i will try a little tone to some of it see how.it looks. The target products are online only correct? Any others you would suggest that i might be able to get locally?
Once again thanks!

[Prashun Patel]

I also believe the easiest way is to skip the dye on the maple. It's very hard to mask properly. Besides, if the end grain of the inlay hasn't been sized with glue, color can bleed in that way across the woods.

The other option is to dye the whole thing - inlay and all. It may not mute the contrast as much as you think.

If you mask, take yr time. Your steps are correct. For #5, seal with shellac again. I'd use DNA if spraying, water if sponging.

I don't believe you'll need any toners unless you apply too little dye or it's blotchy.

[Jeffrey coil]

Thanks for the response.

After much thought i am going to blast over the inlay. With that said could use some.advice. i am planning on running some test pieces tomorrow. I would like to slightly tone it, but natural would look good too. The.playing surface is black with a black rail. Would it.be best to dye then seal then top coat or can i tone using the top coat a bit the top it with clear. Any issues with this being maple? I think i will be ok cause i will be spraying.
Product will be sherwin williams any worries using this?

Thanks everyone, but greatly appreciated!

[Prashun Patel]

I'm a little confused by the terminology. I believe 'toning' here means coloring in between top coats. Dyeing is done to the raw wood, before any topcoats are applied. I'm thinking you mean you want to add a little color to the maple, and you don't really care whether that's done in the 'dyeing' stage or the 'toning' stage, right?

Toning color sits on top of the wood, and hence is usually best when made to adjust the color slightly - not dramatically. Dramatic color shifts are best done on the raw wood.

Take this with a grain of salt: I've only done what yr trying to do once. I found it hard to mask off the inlays, and I got lots of bleed. Also, maple takes dye reasonably well, but can still blotch, so I'm always leery now of putting dye or stain on full strength. So, if it were ME, I'd do this:

1) Sand and prep the whole thing up to 220g. Be careful not to stain your maple with dust from the inlay. I'd use a plane to get it level, and then if you need to sand, I'd mask.
2) Shoot the whole thing with 1.5# clear shellac.
3) If you want to darken, add some dye to the shellac - or use a darker shellac and re-shoot. This is toning, but with a thin cut of shellac underneath, it will penetrate a little more. With each coat, it'll penetrate less.
4) Denib, and shoot yr SW lac, clear.

Of course, test this out first. Also, wait a day to see if any pros have alternate advice (to which I defer).

[Scott Holmes]

Jeffery,

If you have a sample or scrap piece with the inlay try shooting it with garnet shellac. The shellac will give the maple a nice antique color and will pop the grain and color of the inlay... no bleeding, no fuss. The maple will darken a bit over time as will the inlay, so everything should show up (and show off!) nicely.

[Jeffrey coil]

Thanks everyone! Getting the products today. As far as the garnet i assume this sovent based? Where can i find this?
Thanks jeff

[Jeffrey coil]

Well this has been a fiasco! Our SW sold me the wrong aqua kem, it is the enamel and mainly used for wood! Of course they don't carry what I need. So I just placed an order with target finishes ordered the em8000 and the WB shellac Garnet. So soon as it shows up I am all over this I have read and read and read some more on all this I think I know enough now to be dangerous! But still know what I don't know :)