Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. Any
ideas?????

Tim

tdup2 wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. Any
ideas?????

??? Maple would have almost no visible grain and is very closed pore as
opposed to oak. Sounds backwards. Post pictures somewhere of what you
have and what you want to match...

--

dpb wrote:
tdup2 wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the
table was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to
stain the wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so
intense? If I can get rid of the grain and still have the stain show
it would look OK. Any ideas?????

??? Maple would have almost no visible grain and is very closed pore as
opposed to oak. Sounds backwards. Post pictures somewhere of what you
have and what you want to match...

Sorry, I see I misread the posting -- pictures would still help, but
certainly making oak look like maple isn't the easy way to go.

You'll have to start by completely filling the pores w/ a grain filler
and then sanding and refilling -- probably at least three times in an
effort to hide the grain texture. Then a wash coat of shellac and a
semi-transparent stain would be a starting point--but, you'll take a lot
of time and effort to even have a chance of coming close. Unless this
leg is a carved leg w/ a lot of effort invested, I'd be tempted to just
pitch it and do another of the proper material.

(Of course, I'd expect _some_ compensation even from a friend doing a
favor for, for that much grief when they gave me a bum steer--even if it
were just my favorite beverage).

--

On Jan 25, 8:33 pm, "tdup2" wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. Any
ideas?????

Tim

Your best bet will be to try to veneer the leg with maple or remake it
entirely, I think.

-Nathan

You can try a whitewash or liming I think they call it. Minwax makes
pastels. It is just white paint with some type of thinner.

Or buy some Maple and make a new leg.

Or by some more oak and make the rest of the table.


On Jan 25, 5:33*pm, "tdup2" wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. *Any
ideas?????

Tim

On Jan 26, 1:28 am, "SonomaProducts.com" wrote:
You can try a whitewash or liming I think they call it. Minwax makes
pastels. It is just white paint with some type of thinner.

Or buy some Maple and make a new leg.

Or by some more oak and make the rest of the table.

Or buy both and have two tables - one for each!

R

On Jan 25, 8:33 pm, "tdup2" wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. Any
ideas?????


You already know the answer to this: You're going to have to redo it
in maple. Hopefully, you've constructed the leg so that the process is
repeatable. And that's the thing about this craft, really. Leg number
one can take forty hours, leg number two can then be completed in an
hour.

Jeff

On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:27:42 -0800 (PST), Jeff
wrote:

You already know the answer to this: You're going to have to redo it
in maple. Hopefully, you've constructed the leg so that the process is
repeatable. And that's the thing about this craft, really. Leg number
one can take forty hours, leg number two can then be completed in an
hour.

I'd do the same.

Think of the really nice, oak pattern. G

The new leg is never going to look right.

On Jan 25, 7:33*pm, "tdup2" wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. *Any
ideas?????

Tim

Paint the legs and the apron antique green or blue.

"tdup2" wrote in message
...
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the
table was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain
the wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I
can get rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK.
Any ideas?????

Tim


That's a tall order. It is going to be like trying to turn a family sedan
in to a Pick-Up. There is always going to be the odd looking leg. I would
advise starting from scratch, but use Maple this time. ;~)

Or, fill the grain and paint all the legs.

Thanks for all who replied. Did get some good answers for future finish
jobs.

Vote is in. Redo the leg in maple. Cost wise it is probably cheaper and will
take less time.

Lesson learned... I have to see it to believe it!

Tim
"tdup2" wrote in message
...
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the
table was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain
the wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I
can get rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK.
Any ideas?????

Tim

On Jan 25, 8:33*pm, "tdup2" wrote:
Call me dumb! I finished making a table leg for a friend that said the table
was oak. Come to find out it is maple. Now the problem. How to stain the
wood an American Oak and not have the grain show up so intense? If I can get
rid of the grain and still have the stain show it would look OK. *Any
ideas?????

Tim

(Sorry if this shows up twice - my first post didn't seem to go
through)

As others have said the oak will likely never match very well to the
maple. However, to specifically answer your question you can minimize
the strong contrast of the grain when coloring oak by spraying thin
coats of dye stain and just letting it dry without wiping. If you
don't have any spraying equipment something like Minwax Polyshades may
show the grain less than a more typical wipe-on, wipe-off stain
although I'm not sure about this second suggestion.

Charles