Larry Jaques wrote in
:

On Thu, 19 May 2005 22:11:10 GMT, the inscrutable "Ace"
spake:

I have made some one inch hard maple cubes and would like to finish
one face natural,
and finish the remaining surfaces with a dark stain.

Have about a hundred, and am looking for suggestions on how to keep
the dark stain
off the face I want to do natural.

I'd shellac 'em or wax 'em. Perhaps you could soak a paper towel and
carefully blot one face.


Which of the two you'd choose would depend on the type of 'stain' you
choose. And since with maple, the best choice for a 'stain' is more likely
a 'dye', there would be some issues with using shellac, if the dye were an
alcohol solvent dye. Shellac uses alcohol as its solvent. Inadvertent
experimentation on my part yielded less than happy results. A waxy
product, perhaps like the Anchorseal turners use, might be a good choice.

I have no experience with water-based dyes and hard maple. Others may.

Patriarch