Non yellowing finish for Maple.

[Richard Casey]

Hi everyone, during some of my trips to the US I have been lucky enough to buy some highly figured Maple. I am about to make salt grinders with the timber and I would prefer a finish that does not go yellow. I am in Australia so I won't have access to your brand name finishes. All suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Rgds,
Richard.

[John Keeton]

Richard, there is always lacquer and then some of the water based acrylic finishes, too. But, even without finish maple will yellow some on its own, so fully preserving the white color as you see it on a freshly cut surface is futile.

[roger wiegand]

Maple turns yellow on its own over time (years), so I'm afraid you're pretty much out of luck. There's no way to stop it. UV blockers in the finish might slow it down.

A water-based polyurethane varnish or a water-based clear lacquer will give you the least yellow finish to start with. A water based spar polyurethane will have UV inhibitors in it.

For a clear matte finish, Krylon 1311, if that brand is available to you, is what the other John Jordan uses to finish all his turnings. I'm not sure exactly what it is chemically.

[Peter Blair]

I agree with John and Roger but wonder if bleaching it might help it maintain the light color you are looking for?

[John Keeton]

I just had a thought. Years ago I did a piece from a beautiful piece of maple burl and Blackwood. I wanted black and white contrast so I used two part wood bleach and even 2-3 years later it had not yellowed. How long the bleach would keep it white I don’t know as the piece sold. The bleach isn’t cheap and is a bit of a hassle to use, but the effect was worth it.

[Richard Casey]

Thanks for all this info guys, quite interesting. There are waterbased clears and the Krylon is available here as well. Someone locally suggested blonde shellac, not sure about that? I never thought about bleaching, bleach is always on hand, living in the tropics, mildew is a part of life here. As the timber is still in round cylinders I am thinking of trying some of your suggestions on the timber that will disappear during the shaping of the grinders.
Thanks again and Merry Christmas everyone,
Rgds,
Richard.

[Brice Rogers]

Richard Casey, the bleach that John was referring to is a two part bleach made specifically for wood. Regular (household) bleach may slightly lighten the wood, but not as much as the two-part wood bleach. I looked up Zinsser wood bleach and one part contains sodium hydroxide (lye) and the other contains strong hydrogen peroxide.

[roger wiegand]

Even the blondest shellac I've ever found (Platinum from shellacnet.com) ambers more than any of the water based clears that don't intentionally have a bit of amber tint to warm them up. Not much, and it's a lovely product, but still adds a bit of yellow.

[Robert Hayward]

I agree with Roger. I like shellac for my hobby/craft projects and use it a lot. I have never found a blonde shellac that did not produce at least a light amber tint to maple.

[Prashun Patel]

A waterbased finish probably not optimize that figure as will an oil-based finish.

An NC lacquer would be my vote. Non-yellowing, very good clarity.

[Bill Boehme]

....... NC lacquer would be my vote. Non-yellowing, very good clarity.

Actually, that is not correct. Acrylic lacquer remains water clear, but nitrocellulose lacquer dues yellow with age.

I have used two-part wood bleach on maple to turn it snow-white, but instead of buying the overpriced commercial wood bleach, I made my own using lye (sodium hydroxide) crystals in distilled water and 27% hydrogen peroxide which is available as swimming pool shock oxidizer. It is available in two brands in the US ... Aqua Silk Shock Oxidizer and Baquacil Shock Oxidizer. It comes in gallon jugs for about $20. There are other types of swimming pool oxidizers, but they are all chlorine-based and are not suitable for bleaching wood. The sodium hydroxide crystals can be obtained from many different sources, but I found the least expensive to be drain cleaner. However, you need to be careful when looking for a suitable drain cleaner as most of them have added ingredients such as aluminum oxide or magnesium to make them fizz a lot and put on a big show to make you believe that you are getting more for your money. Those added ingredients will discolor the wood ... and not in a good way. The brand that I have used is Rooto 100% Lye Household Drain Cleaner and costs about $4 for a one-pound (454 grams) container. Slowly add 182 milliliters of sodium hydroxide to one US gallon (3.785 liters) of distilled water in a glass or plastic container (do not use a metal container). WARNING: Never pour the water into the sodium hydroxide crystals because it will cause a violent reaction. Add the crystals very slowly because this is a strongly exothermic reaction. Some plastics can be dissolved by sodium hydroxide so I prefer glass -- DAMHIKT. I recommend storing the two containers in separate five-gallon buckets just in case one of the containers springs a leak -- once again DAMHIKT.

To use this two-part bleach safely you should wear long rubber gloves and wear a faceshield. Do this outdoors. Measure out equal parts of the two chemicals and you can either mix them together or apply them separately to the wood. I prefer applying them separately. First, very liberally apply the sodium hydroxide with a disposable synthetic bristle brush or a foam brush. Then quickly in the same manner apply the hydrogen peroxide. after 4 or 5 minutes rinse all the foamy crud off the wood with a garden hose and dry the wood with an old towel. In the summer I set the wood in the sun for a couple of hours to finish drying.

Final sanding should be done prior to bleaching since the bleach only penetrates a couple thousandths of an inch into the wood. if necessary, you can use very fine sandpaper to knock down any raised grain after the wood has dried, but go very lightly.

[Richard Casey]

Thanks guys, some good info here. I usually spray my work with a precat lacquer, but as noted it is slightly yellow, doesn't bother most timber, but I knew it was not for this Maple. I will go and see if I can source the chemicals Bill has described.
Thanks,
Richard.

[Prashun Patel]

I finished a curly maple table with nc spray lacquer about 10 years ago. Still white.

The acrylic water based topcoats may not pop his curl as well. I just finished a guitar with Target EM6000 waterbased lacquer. It is non-yellowing and all in all I am pleased, but the curl is not as vibrant as oil-based finishes. Not saying it's not possible, but you have to work harder for it.

To be honest, I nowadays finish everything with waterbased. I've sacrificed color and curl for ease of cleanup, convenience and perceived safety and quick recoating.