Roasted Tiger Maple or Tiger Maple

[Robert Hartmann]

I'm planning to make a jewelry box (small armoir) for my daughter. I have some cherry and planned to make the drawer fronts with a different wood. The box is similar to the one made by the Woodwhisperer if you've seen it. My wife wasn't excited about the tiger maple thinking it was too white. I haven't used Roasted Tiger Maple or seen any other than online, but it looked interesting to me. Would it be darker than the cherry? Any thoughts? I may override her and go with the Tiger Maple (but you know how that usually goes).

[Jim Matthews]

Is it possible to get several samples together, and apply the same finish? I've never had luck with stains, and figured woods take up pigment in unpredictable ways.

I would recommend finding a supplier of Intarsia ready projects - that way you could leave space for a panel (of any color) at the top of the box.

[lowell holmes]

Maybe this will help.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...&hsimp=yhs-001

[Robert Maloney]

I am building one right now using cherry for the case and tiger maple for the drawer fronts. I dyed the cherry to even out the colors. I used blonde shellac on the panels and drawer fronts to enhance the figure and give them some warmth. They were definitely too white before doing this. Now there is a really nice contrast between the two, and the figure stands out more in the drawer fronts. I personally think the roasted tiger maple wouldn't look that good with the cherry. Especially when the cherry ages and darkens. That's just my opinion. I'm sure your wife will love it when done.

[Lee Schierer]

Over time maple will yellow to a light amber color where exposed to light.

[Pete Taran]

My family has been selling curly (tiger) maple since the 60s and still do. The roasted maple is a relatively new phenomenon where they take regular curly maple and heat it in an oven. The objective is to caramelize the complex sugars left in the wood and make them a dark tan color. It is a popular treatment with luthiers who claim that it gives a better tone from the wood in the assembled instrument.

The cost is not insignificant. The wood is that color all the way through the board, it is not a surface treatment. If your objective is to avoid stain, this could be a good option.

[Robert Hartmann]

Thanks all and sorry for the delay, was camping the past week without internet access. I've been woodworking for a while now, but thanks to three overseas assignments I'm really not very experienced with many types of woods.

If cherry darkens over time and tiger maple turns light amber wouldn't the contrast increase over time?

thanks