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Thread: Curly maple - best finish??

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Cleveland, Ohio
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    92

    Curly maple - best finish??

    Hi all,

    What finish do you recommend or have used for curly maple to bring out the "curl" the best?

    I have used Odies oil in a recent project but was potentially looking for something else.
    If you have some pictures, I would love if you shared them.

    Thanks,
    Nick

  2. #2
    My first foray into making wood pop I used boiled linseed oil. BLO seemed to be the big favorite for that. Most of the curly maple I've worked with was for guitars. BLO was not a good choice for necks. So I just sprayed them with lacquer. Over the years the natural darkening created pretty much the same effect the BLO did.

    This is quilted maple with BLO underneath NC lacquer.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Shoreline, CT
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    For most dramatic figure start with dilute water mixed dark brown powdered dye. After the dye has dried sand the surface so that where the wood is porous the dye penetrates deeply and does not sand off.

    It does take lots of testing to get the right color and concentration of the dye and how much to sand. It’s a lot of work but outcome can be spectacular.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    SoCal
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    So many answers on this. Do you want to keep the lighter color? This is flooded with shellac (to soak deep into the curl) and then top coated with shellac.

    Kellogg Inspired Wall Cab (173).jpg

    This is multiple dyes sanded back to remove the dye from the hardwood and leave it in the curl. It is then dyed with a lighter color and top coated clear.

    Larry Frame (12).jpg

    This one is again, just shellac on birdseye.

    Frame with Inlay (19).jpg

    Charles Neil has a similar method if you are going dark. Another of Charles' videos here.
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 02-18-2019 at 8:29 PM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,688
    I like the technique that Steve describes...dye and sand back, often more than once. I might add another color after that to richen it more and then complete the rest of my typical finishing regimen. (BLO, de-waxed shellac and water borne clear)
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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