Ok, I am working on a rocker and I am applying a finish to the rear splats that are rounded.

I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I read to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a small can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same problem.

Everything is sanded to 220.

I'm next thinking of using a thin coat of shellac first then applying the Watco. Question - is this the best course of action? Of course, I'll try it on a test piece first. I know I'll end up with a lighter color then what I had before, but that will be ok.

Any help is most appreciative.

Thanks in advance.

MJ

On 10/3/2013 9:38 PM, MJ wrote:
Ok, I am working on a rocker and I am applying a finish to the rear splats that are rounded.

I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I read to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a small can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same problem.

the conditioner should dry before you use it.

Everything is sanded to 220.

I'm next thinking of using a thin coat of shellac first then applying the Watco. Question - is this the best course of action? Of course, I'll try it on a test piece first. I know I'll end up with a lighter color then what I had before, but that will be ok.

Shellac is a great pre-stain.. Thin is quite a bit. make sure it's
dewaxed shellac.

The watco is oil right, I didn't know oil splotched. Stain yes, dye yes,
oil... didn't know that.


Any help is most appreciative.

Thanks in advance.

MJ



--
Jeff

I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I read to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a small can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same problem.



OK, staining Maple is pretty much impossible. The wood is just not really amenable to any "staining" technique. You can "dye" it a little easier but it is still difficult. With the many steps technique below, you can get excellent results. I have studied this extensively.

Options.
1. Tone it. This is a technique of adding color to the film finish (lacquer, shellac, poly). Minwax has a product call Polyshades that uses this concept. Kind of hard to get good results because it shows overlaps. The best way to do this technique is to use a shade lighter than you want and build a few coats to get your color. This will not accentuate the figure, it is just a way to sort of add some color.

2. Use Dye.
I have detailed this here before, even recently but can't find the post.
Here is how to dye curly maple
- Use Transtint dye mixed in water
- Wet the whole piece with clear warm water, let dry and lightly hand sand off raised grain hairs.
- Wet piece again then apply black water based dye. Wetting first helps to make applying dye very easy and it goes on evenly. Dying dry wood is really difficult to get even coverage. I try to keep the whole piece wet until I am dine adding the round of color.
- After dry sand of 95% of black dya it the remaining dye accentuates the figure (curl)
- Wet the piece again and hand sand off the raised grain once dry
- Wet the piece then dye with vintage maple water based dye
- Note, at this point you will be sure you have ruined the piece. Dye without shellac or lacquer, etc. looks like crap.
- Then oil with Tung and let dry a week.
- It will look pretty good now
- Then shellac or lacquer, whatever
- It will look great
- Then wax. Clear wax for a fresh look, brown or black wax for an antique look.
- It will look fantastic
Examples of this technique
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/1.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/2.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/3.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/4.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/5.jpg

"MJ" wrote in message

Ok, I am working on a rocker and I am applying a finish
to the rear splats that are rounded.

I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a
Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I read
to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a small
can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the
conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same
problem.

Everything is sanded to 220.

I'm next thinking of using a thin coat of shellac first
then applying the Watco. Question - is this the best
course of action?

No. There is no reason to apply Watco (oil) over shellac because Watco is a
penetrating finish and it can't penetrate the shellac. Oh, OK, Watco has a
tad of varnish too but not enough to even think of using it as a top coat;
it would wind up all sticky if you did.



--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message

I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a
Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I
read to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a
small can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the
conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same
problem.



OK, staining Maple is pretty much impossible. The wood is
just not really amenable to any "staining" technique. You
can "dye" it a little easier but it is still difficult.
With the many steps technique below, you can get
excellent results. I have studied this extensively.

Options.
1. Tone it. This is a technique of adding color to the
film finish (lacquer, shellac, poly). Minwax has a
product call Polyshades that uses this concept. Kind of
hard to get good results because it shows overlaps. The
best way to do this technique is to use a shade lighter
than you want and build a few coats to get your color.
This will not accentuate the figure, it is just a way to
sort of add some color.

2. Use Dye.
I have detailed this here before, even recently but can't
find the post.
Here is how to dye curly maple
- Use Transtint dye mixed in water
- Wet the whole piece with clear warm water, let dry and
lightly hand sand off raised grain hairs.
- Wet piece again then apply black water based dye.
Wetting first helps to make applying dye very easy and it
goes on evenly. Dying dry wood is really difficult to get
even coverage. I try to keep the whole piece wet until I
am dine adding the round of color.
- After dry sand of 95% of black dya it the remaining dye
accentuates the figure (curl)
- Wet the piece again and hand sand off the raised grain
once dry
- Wet the piece then dye with vintage maple water based
dye
- Note, at this point you will be sure you have ruined
the piece. Dye without shellac or lacquer, etc. looks
like crap.
- Then oil with Tung and let dry a week.
- It will look pretty good now
- Then shellac or lacquer, whatever
- It will look great
- Then wax. Clear wax for a fresh look, brown or black
wax for an antique look.
- It will look fantastic
Examples of this technique
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/1.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/2.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/3.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/4.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/5.jpg

Dang, it *does* look great. Almost like koa

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On 10/4/2013 12:14 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:

Options.
1. Tone it. This is a technique of adding color to the film finish (lacquer, shellac, poly). Minwax has a product call Polyshades that uses this concept. Kind of hard to get good results because it shows overlaps. The best way to do this technique is to use a shade lighter than you want and build a few coats to get your color. This will not accentuate the figure, it is just a way to sort of add some color.

2. Use Dye.


Examples of this technique
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/1.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/2.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/3.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/4.jpg
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/images...es/curly/5.jpg

Beautiful ... maybe because I'm colorblind, I would have said cherry,
not maple. That's how purty it is. Excellent!

The header on my ewoodshop.com website below is a mixture of stained and
toned maple, in a mix of old and new cabinets that I did in a kitchen
remodel last year:

http://static.squarespace.com/static...g?format=1500w

One of the trendy magazine things the past year or so in kitchen
cabinets is actually the blotchy maple look, maybe because it is so easy
to effect.

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 10:14:20 -0700, SonomaProducts.com wrote:

1. Tone it. This is a technique of adding color to the film finish
(lacquer, shellac, poly).

I've had pretty good results by adding dye to dewaxed shellac and
applying it with a piece of old t-shirt wrapped around some cosmetic pads.

--
This message was for rec.woodworking - if it appears in homeownershub
they ripped it off.

I have done a fair number of curly maple pieces. What I have found is
that any cut surface that are lightly sanded will come out blotchy. I
must use sandpaper to tame the wild cross grain. Sometimes I start
out with 36 grit. End grain is next to impossible. When I turn maple
bowls I do segmented turning to avoid end grain.

Some of my maple pieces are at
http://ray80538.home.comcast.net/~ra.../woodwork.html

I use maple because I got a batch of about 150 board feet for $50. I
am still working on it.

On Thu, 3 Oct 2013 18:38:14 -0700 (PDT), MJ
wrote:

Ok, I am working on a rocker and I am applying a finish to the rear splats that are rounded.

I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I read to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a small can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same problem.

Everything is sanded to 220.

I'm next thinking of using a thin coat of shellac first then applying the Watco. Question - is this the best course of action? Of course, I'll try it on a test piece first. I know I'll end up with a lighter color then what I had before, but that will be ok.

Any help is most appreciative.

Thanks in advance.

MJ

Ray ...

That is an amazing collection of work. Thanks for sharing!

Larry


On Saturday, October 5, 2013 7:21:05 AM UTC-5, Ray wrote:
I have done a fair number of curly maple pieces. What I have found is

that any cut surface that are lightly sanded will come out blotchy. I

must use sandpaper to tame the wild cross grain. Sometimes I start

out with 36 grit. End grain is next to impossible. When I turn maple

bowls I do segmented turning to avoid end grain.



Some of my maple pieces are at

http://ray80538.home.comcast.net/~ra.../woodwork.html



I use maple because I got a batch of about 150 board feet for $50. I

am still working on it.



On Thu, 3 Oct 2013 18:38:14 -0700 (PDT), MJ

wrote:



Ok, I am working on a rocker and I am applying a finish to the rear splats that are rounded.



I've made them out of maple - curly - and applied a Watco finish to the first three. Ugly blotchiness. I read to use the Minwax stain conditioner, so I bought a small can and applied it to a test piece. I applied the conditioner and then applied the Watco. Still the same problem.



Everything is sanded to 220.



I'm next thinking of using a thin coat of shellac first then applying the Watco. Question - is this the best course of action? Of course, I'll try it on a test piece first. I know I'll end up with a lighter color then what I had before, but that will be ok.



Any help is most appreciative.



Thanks in advance.



MJ

Any help is most appreciative.

Check out Charles Neil ...

http://www.cn-woodworking.com/

He knows more about finishing than anyone I've met.

I've got no financial interest etc ....