Hello to all the experts out there! I would like some advice on staining soft maple, as this is my first project with this wood. I have created frame panels for a nightstand, but have a mixture of sapwood and heartwood pieces (novice mistake here). I am interested in a dark brown to reddish-brown final stain. In testing scraps (using an English Chestnut miniwax oil stain), I notice that the sapwood turns a nice dark brown while the heartwood is a considerably lighter, and redder shade. Preconditioning the wood or not doesn’t seem to change this. Does anyone know of a way to even out the differences between these two wood types- without having to recut half the project? I have tried staining the heartwood longer, hoping to even out the darkness difference, but that didn;t seem to help either.
thank you!!
Replies
Even Out
It sounds like you will need to seal with clear first or a slightly tinted clear, and than glaze using a brush selectively to put more color where you need it.
SA
Thanks SA... i'll try that!
Stain
A simplw solution would be to apply a bleach then stain. With maple you will want a wash coat to prevent blotching. It is important to choose a washcoat that will not be redissolved by the final finish or stain. Whatever you do, do it first on samples or setup pieces.
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