Replies

1. 
   beachfarm | Dec 19, 2005 03:00am | #1

   How well (or dark) Maple takes stain depends - to a large degree - on how far you went with finish sanding. I'm guessing you went to 320? That's akin to polishing Maple and the result is low absorption (of stain). You might try wet-sanding with the same stain and a lesser grit - 220 perhaps. Forgive me for being rudimentary, but be mindful... wet sand WITH the grain. That process will, almost certainly, darken the wood.

   Future reference: Consider using Aniline Dyes.

   
   

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   Edited 12/19/2005 4:27 pm ET by beachfarm

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 19, 2005 03:45am | #2

   Too late now, but others may profit from the example, but this is the prime example of why it is important to make a test on the same wood as the project, prepared in the same way.  It would have told you that pigmented stains don't do a very good job on woods as hard and tight pored as maple.  A water mixed aniline dye would have let you make it as dark as you wanted.  At this point, the other coats of stain have sealed the wood so much that there is no place for the pigment in the stain to lodge. Applying stain without rubbing off the excess--essentially using it as paint, might get a notch darker, but would obscure the grain.  You could sand the surface with 150 grit to give more tooth for pigment. 

   However, my first recommendation--step back and consider that the headboard doesn't have to match the dresser and other furniture in a bedroom.  It can look good in its own right.  What does the "customer" think?

   In furniture factories they would add pigment to a top coat material--creating a toner.  However, they would spray this, or use other high tech methods of application.  If you can spray, this would be the way to go.  If you need to brush on the finish it is very hard to apply toner evenly without overlaps and having every finish imperfection magnified by the finish.  It can be done, but I sure wouldn't like to do it.  Toners don't work well with wiping finishes. 

   Using a toner would be easier than the other alternative, which would be to strip off the oil-based stain and then sand the wood back to clear.  Then you could apply a dye.  Or, though it wouldn't be my choice, you could use stain, but only after sanding to 150 or so to leave enough surface roughness to catch more pigment from the stain. 

    

    

1. 
   Cordless | Dec 19, 2005 07:18am | #3

   beachfarm & Steve,

   I'm sorry but..."stripping off the oil-based stain and then sand the wood back to clear" is NOT and option.  I think I'd rather start the whole project from scratch.

   I think I'll place the headboard in the appropriate place in the bedroom and do as you suggested..."step back and consider that the headboard does not need to match the other furnature".   I'll have the "customer" with me and I'm sure she'll give me her honest opinion.  :-)

   If I have to, I'll try the 220 or 150 grit paper to roughen thing up a little.

   I appreciate the comments

3. 
   latech15 | Dec 19, 2005 07:47pm | #4

   I built a coffee table out of maple that the customer wanted to look like walnut.  Obviously the grain did not look anything like walnut but the customer did n't want to pay for walnut so she was ok with the grain looking differently.  I used homestead dyes.  I used the very dark walnut color.  it turned out very dark.  To dark for my taste, but the customer liked it.  I would stick with those from now on. 

   You might try some gel varnish on your project though.  That seems to go well on top of other stain when you want to darken more than the stain will.

1. 
   Segil | Dec 19, 2005 11:50pm | #5

   I just completed a maple kitchen in which I used Transtint liquid dyes to color my spray lacquer, and it worked quite well. These dyes are compatible with lac, shellac, varnish, water base and others as well. Talk to Jeff Jewitt at Homestead finishing and he will set you up. This is the only product I've achieved acceptable results with on maple.