I am making a credenza out of curly maple for a friend. The maple, all ordered from curlymaplewood.com in Pennsylvania, is expensive but oh so spectacular. I want to put a finish on the credenza that is worthy of the wood, but so far my efforts have produced dissappointing results.
On scraps from cut-offs I have: 1) dyed the wood with J.E. Moser aniline dye (light golden oak color); followed by Defthane finish (satin) (sort of a combination laquer/varnish). The luthier-quality figured wood does not “pop” after these applications.
On a project about ten years ago I was successful in getting curly maple to “pop” using the same container of dye, but I cannot remember what I used in combination with it. What I do know is that my dye/Defthane finish is awful. It addition to no “pop” the result has a green (!) tint to it. Perhaps the dye, which is ten years old, has deteriorated over the years.
If anyone has any ideas of finish recipe, I would very much appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks, Tenderfoot Bob
Replies
Dye the wood but the key is to then sand the surface--making sure you have a relatively firmI sanding block. The sanding will remove the surface, leaving dye in the porous areas where it penetrated more deeply. It's the sanding that makes the difference. Often, a dark brown is recommended, albeit in a dilute solution. Then dye the overall wood to the color you want. It should be relatively light to retain the enhanced figure.
Boiled Linseed Oil, BLO, also enhances figure. This is partially because of it's amber color, but also because it makes parts of the wood a bit more translucent. It could be used over the dyed and sanded wood.
Defthane is not a combination lacquer/varnish. It is simply an ordinary oil based polyurethane varnish, made by a company more well known for its Deft brushing lacquer produIcts. The varnish formula has likely changed over the past 10 years as well as VOC regulations have become more stringent. I usually prefer non-poly varnishes such as Waterlox or Behlen Rockhard, both of which have phenolic resin making them a bit on the darkish side. For a light varnish, Pratt & Lambert 38, which is an alkyd varnish made with soya oil.
Thanks Steve! I'll give your dye, sanding, BLO and non-poly varnish approach a try.
A related question: would sanding with "micro-mesh" (1500 to 12000 grit) enhance the results?
Tenderfoot Bob
Some folks like the MicroMesh quite a lot for rubbing out. My preference is to simply sand with about 600grit to remove defects,and then shift to 1200 (CAMI) to remove the scratches from the 600 grit. I then go to final sheen with either a rubbing compound (satin) or polishing compound (gloss) and if really high gloss is desired I recommend "swirl remover". B e sure to give the varnish plenty of time to cure before rubbing out--a couple of weeks for satin, a month for gloss.
Traditional gun stock makers sometimes use nitric acid for this purpose. Google around and you'll find an article or two describing the process with examples.
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