"David Grant" wrote in message
...
I have a couple questions about some hard maple I'm trying to work with
(bear with me this is my first staining/finishing attempt)

First of all the stain seems to hide the grain of the maple... in some
spots
it creates an inverse effect where the lines become lighter than the other
areas of the wood. In other areas dark/light patches occur with no
apparent
correlation to the way in which the grain is moving. I've never really
seen
anything like it... it's sort of neat, but not the natural effect I was
hoping for. Any clues as to why this is happening? I'm using Varathane's
#263 "Mission Oak" on 240-grit sanded hard maple applied with a cotton
cloth. I'll link to a picture if anyone thinks it'll help.

For the finish I'm using Varathane's water-based semi-gloss. No matter how
meticulous I am about brushing it on I can't seem to avoid getting
bubbles.
I'm not using the most expensive brush in the world but it's not a piece
of
junk either. I didn't shake the finish, nor am I using the can rim to
remove
excess from the brush. The bubbles are there right as I apply, so it's not
a
heat issue as far as I can tell. Any tips on what to try differently would
be appreciated.

Dave -

I've had very good results just using shellac to color the maple followed by
minwax wipeon poly for final coat protection. After that, BriWax or Johnsons
paste.

I use garnet shellac, padded on to get the rich warm color. It highlights
the grain without changing it.


HTH,

Vic