Staining solid maple and ply to match on medicine cabinet...

[Michael Donahue]

Hello! I'm working on a medicine cabinet where I'm using maple plywood for the sides and door panels and solid maple for the shelves and face frames. The ply is a bit more golden in color than the solid stuff and I want it all to match. I'm going for an even light brown/gold color. Should I satin or dye this piece? Should I seal everything first with shellac maybe, than stain or dye?

One more quick question... can you then recommend a good compatible wipe on top coat?

I appreciate the help!:D

[Jerry Nettrour]

I just finished my maple/birch media cabinet yesterday. I studied this topic for the past month and decided to go with transtint dye. I sprayed the dye with an hvlp gun giving 2 back to back coats. I did not use any pre stain conditioner as I did not think it was needed with the dye. I did however wet the cabinet down before applying the dye. I mixed it with 1/2 denatured alcohol and 1/2 bottled water. I then sprayed zinnsers seal coat shellac (dewaxed) and did 2 coats of that. I then lightly hand sanded, wiped down with a damp rag and then applied my first of 3 coats of poly. The color and finish has turned out perfect, I could not have been happier. In the future though I plan to experiment with transfast which can only be mixed with water but appears to come in many more colors. The transtint only had limited choices and so I was forced to mix 2 parts red mahogany with 1 part brown mahogany in order to get my color of choice. remember to do your practice boards as this was a good help to me. Everything I have read suggests the maple will not take a pigment stain well but it appears a gel stain might also be an option. Hope this helps some. Look at my finished project at http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=88600

Also, I think using the dye your cabinet should stain well and match well between the ply and solid wood. I used birch ply but should be similar to the maple ply you are using.

Jerry

[glenn bradley]

Jerry's got it. IMHO, stains are hard to match on a solid wood and a material with a substrate. The glue under the thin veneer forms a barrier so that solid wood absorbs differently than the veneered product. Dyes work best for me in this instance.

[Michael Donahue]

Thanks guys that's some good info :)