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View Full Version : Poppin the Curl,Leaving it Light



Dave Tinley
08-01-2005, 6:33 PM
I am doing a frame and panel blanket chest made out of maple. The frame is plain sawn maple and the panels are curley maple veneer with lots of curl. I want to keep the chest as light colored as possible in order to match existing bedroom furniture.
How can I pop the curl and still keep it light colored. Annaline dye?? What color?
Would blonde shellac give it a pop?
Thanks
Dave

John Shuk
08-01-2005, 7:26 PM
Pure tung oil will do the trick. You can cut it with Mineral spirits if you like. It won't darken the way Boiled linseed oil will. I like it as a finish. I'm sure someone can offer you ideas for a mixture as well.

Doug Shepard
08-01-2005, 8:11 PM
I'm not sure the aniline dye is what you're after unless you don't mind it coloring the non-curl part of the wood as well. A couple of months ago I had a similar notion and did some experimenting with using dye then sanding off to remove the overall color - with the hope that the curls would remain darkened but the overall wood tone was natural. The pics with the results are towards the bottom of the thread. There's a lot of other good examples from others on that thread using dyes but they do leave the overall wood tone not as light as what I think you're after.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=18968

Still planning on re-running this little experiment a 2nd time to see if I can get some improvements, but haven't got to it yet.

Warren White
08-01-2005, 9:16 PM
Dave,
I did a blanket chest for my daughter and wanted the same thing. My finish couldn't have been easier, but it might not appeal to you. I offer it as a suggestion. The thread is here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20899

The finish was simply several coats of spray-can Deft gloss laquer. I presanded to 220, dusted it off very thoroughly (I used mineral spirits to clean the wood), sprayed several light initial coats, rubbed down with a terry cloth, sprayed some more, rubbed some more, sprayed some more, rubbed some more, and finished with Liberon paste wax.

I just finished a small box out of cury maple with the same finish. The thread is here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=22414

Whatever you choose, good luck and please post pictures and information on the choice of finish you used.

Warren