Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "John"
wrote:
I wouldn't do anything to figured wood, other than varnish it.
However you obviously want to color it.
My guess is that stain would show the figure better than dye.

No, sorry, that's backwards. Stain obscures wood grain whether it's
figured or
not. Dye can bring it out dramatically.


Chatoyance is the porperty of figured wood that causes it to change
appearance when illuminated or viewed from different angles.

Stain kills the chatoyance which is what makes curly maple special.
If you stain it, the effect will be much as if you had simply used
stain to paint some dark streaks on plain maple.

If you want ot change the color overall, rather than highlighting
the figure, you can use a colored film finish (toning).

--

FF