Curly maple finish question

[Ed Marks]

In the past when I've used curly maple I've just gone over it with BLO and then used a clear finish of some type after that. For a project I'm working on (jewelry boxes) I'd like to get a an almost brown or tan tone to it. I've seen this on several table tops but I've not been able to figure out how to get it.

I've tried BLO followed by blond shellac with brown dye added to it. I can get the shade I want but the figure get's really washed out. I have also tried just a light brown dye over raw wood and then shellac and varnish. This gets close but about 1/2 the figure disppeared. Following the suggestion in this month's FWW I tried garnet shellac ... yuk ... it just turned it grey.

If anyone knows the magic formula for getting "brown curly maple" I'd appreciate knowing.

TIA,
ed

[Jim Becker]

Some folks work with multiple applications of dyes on curly maple. A yellow dye is used first and then mostly sanded off...it accentuates the soft part of the grain but sands off the harder part. Then a darker color is applied to the whole piece. You get more "curl" that way.

But there are probably more ways to finish any wood than there are people to finish it! Experiment on scraps and cut-offs to find out what works for you.

[Lee Schierer]

Here is a tray I made from figured maple. The finish is Deft Semi gloss clear wood finish. No stains, no dyes, just three coats of Deft.

[Dave Arbuckle]

Some folks work with multiple applications of dyes on curly maple. A yellow dye is used first and then mostly sanded off...it accentuates the soft part of the grain but sands off the harder part. Then a darker color is applied to the whole piece. You get more "curl" that way.

If interested, I have a little tutorial on the method Jim mentions at http://users2.ev1.net/~arbuckle/antique/antiquing.html . The first four steps on the main page cover this, ignoring the fifth for this purpose. You would of course pick dye color suiting the asthetic desired.

A minor technical niggle, Jim. It isn't the soft and hard parts that sand away in this case, or the striping would be along the grain. What gets removed is the dye on the grain parallel to the face of the board, which doesn't penetrate as far as where the grain angles relative to the face. Apology for the pedantry.

Dave

[Ed Marks]

I'm not sure how I will go but the suggestions are great.

[Dave Anderson NH]

My method is fairly easy and has always worked well for me. I start with a heavy application of water based aniline dye in the color of my choice and flood the surface. The curly part of the wood will absorb more so don't be parsimonious with it. After it's dry I apply at least one heavy coat of BLO and let it cure after wiping off any excess on the surface. I then apply one coat of 2# cut garnet shellac which fixes in place any fibers of wood raised by the water based dye. This gets scuff sanded with 320 grit to cut off the raised fibers. The final step is to apply your final coats of finish as the top coat. In my case this is usually more shellac. The boiled linseed oil is what pops the grain and figure in the wood.