Maple finishing HELP

B . Buxton

B . Buxton

Joined
Jul 8, 2001
Messages
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I'm working on a 4 piece set and I just finished making a Maple box to hold them, but I am in need of suggestions, on the best way to give it that professional looking finish. I have it sanded to 600 and plan on using Fieblings Med. brown leather dye,(unless someone knows of something better). But what would give it the best looking finish, several coats of tung oil???? or what??? If anyone knows how the pro's do it and what they use, I would sure appreciate your comments.

Thank you,

Bill
 
Bill, I like the water soluble dyes, as they are more color-fast.
Tung oil varnish, wiping varnishes, and oil based polyurethanes are all good.
I would stay away from satin or matt finishes, as they cloud the finish.
A gloss finish can be made satin with a little sanding or scotch-brite work, but a dull finish is always dull...
 
Maple is beautiful wood but , it is also pretty hard and dense (I'm sure you folks know this :) ) , thus it isnt going to absorb that much sealer , tung oil , etc.
I have gotten nice results with woods as hard as Desert Ironwood by doing the following pretty easy steps.. Sand to 1500 or finer if you can find it , you'll see a "gloss" just from that fine of sanding , clean with de-natured alcohol after completed sanding and let it dry , a few minutes.
The initial coat of tung oil , I would make light-to medium thickness , at this point it will absorb about as much as it's going to absorb , let dry for a few minutes and then buff off witha lint free towel , hold your project in the light so you can see any lints or gummy's as sometimes tung oil will gum up in spots during that buff.
Let that dry , maybe a day if youhave the time , then repeat the process until you get the desired gloss, using lighter coats of tung oil or course.
Now this is how I do it but I do all of mine by hand , no buffer or whatever.
Like I said the resulting gloss on the desert ironwood scales was beautiful and shiny with the added benefit of further waterproofing , without looking like it even had a finish on it.
Good luck bro.
Todd
 
I use quite a bit of maple in gunstocks knife handles and boxes what has worked the best for me in the past is one coat of fiebings yellow dye and then a coat of med brown when that dries i use either tru-oil or arrow wood finnishing oil. By putting the coat of yellow dye first you get more of a "glow" to the figure in the wood. hope this helps
 
Thank you everyone for the comments, I have enough info now to be really dangerous, so hopefully I won't screw this up. :thumbup:
Thank you,

Bill
 
B . Buxton said:
Thank you everyone for the comments, I have enough info now to be really dangerous, so hopefully I won't screw this up. :thumbup:
Thank you,

Bill
Click to expand...

You DO realize you have to post pics of the final result right? :)

-d
 
B . Buxton said:
I'm working on a 4 piece set and I just finished making a Maple box to hold them, but I am in need of suggestions, on the best way to give it that professional looking finish. I have it sanded to 600 and plan on using Fieblings Med. brown leather dye,(unless someone knows of something better). But what would give it the best looking finish, several coats of tung oil???? or what??? If anyone knows how the pro's do it and what they use, I would sure appreciate your comments.

Thank you,

Bill
Click to expand...


On some of my early knives I coated the handles with clear epoxy. This REALLY brings out the grain, but it chips easily if you drop it on a concrete floor. :D Also you have to keep things really clean; any specks of dirt will make a lump.
 
Great suggestions here but Ive done maple by taking it to 1000, then a light buff, then a single quick layer of tung oil, finally buffed with a cloth. Seems to give it a nice glow without looking plastic-shiney.
 
Hard maple can appear blotchy if you don't keep the stain moving. Have a clean cloth in the other hand and make sure the stain does not lay on the surface and dry. Use a tack cloth before the finish. I like sanding sealer as a base for finish coats, sandng in between coats. As a top coat Birchwood Casey gun stock finish cut 20% with Penatrol is nice to work with. Good Luck! Fred
 
Bill, I use tung oil on all the different woods I use. Works great everytime.
Scott
 
As usual Bill, I'm a little late but....I still feel that Aqua Fortis cannot be beaten om Maple. As a finish I use Teak Oil almost exclusively now. Give it a good sloshing for the first coat and wipe down in about an hour. The next day start rubbing a fresh coat in with 800 or so grit. For the next few days do the same thing going to 1200 or so.
You won't believe the finish.
 
thanks for all the comments everyone, I've stained it med brown and applied 3 coats of tru oil sanding back after each coat dried, not happy with what I see yet, but maybe after 5 or 6 more coats it will come around.

Thanks.

Bill
 
Bill the Tru Oil is a great finish but the first coat needs to set for 15 days to cure after 15 days sand smooth and restain if needed and cut the true oil by 33% with mineral spirits. Apply once daily for several coats until you are satified sanding at very high grit like 1000-1500. Stained wood will lighten up in spots if sanded too much between coats and will need to be restained and more tru oil added. Just wipe it on and wipe it back off. Its very time comsuming but it pays off in the end.
 
darn Bruce I don't have the patience to wait 15 days before I screw things up, I like to get them done quick so I can go back 3 or 4 times and fix my screw ups then throw it in the trash can. :D My bottle only says to let dry 2 hrs. never would have figured 15 days, wow.

Thanks

Bill
 
Bill, the bottle doesnt tell you that it needs to be thinned by 1/3rd either otherwise it is a gummy mess. The real secret to Tru oil is the sealer coat. I make black walnut Ruger pistol grips and cant wait 15 days either so I seal them with Water Lox and only wait one day. After that I can put a coat on per day but the thinning of the tru oil is very important. Wipe it on and wipe it off. It leaves a very thin film that dries pretty quickly. After about 8-10 coats I sand it down with 1000 grit and go up to as much as you like. 4000 grit polishing paper gives a nice sheen. All the custom stock makers here use it and charge big bucks because it takes time and gives professional results.
 
Hey Bruce I know what your saying, even though I have already applied 3 coats and sanded the first 2, I plan on leaving the wood alone now for several days so it will cure and be ready for the final coats as you suggested.

A big Thank you to all,

Bill
 
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