Maple finishing project in need?

I have been reading in this forum the past weeks all of the stories on finishing Maple and Birch, some are very successful and some noted some issues and concerns. I am a decent builder with good technique but I am mostly self taught on all Oak projects that I just stained with minwax pigment stains and finished off with teac oil or poly. Hard to go wrong with that but therin lies my inexperience.

OK, hope I can get great advice and I am sure I will from all you pros out there. I have built a 6' long 'media sideboard' which I call just a very nice and large TV stand. The cabinet itself is made of all birch plywood, face frame and solid wood top is made of solid maple along with 4 raised panel maple cabinet doors. I am very happy with the results and I am anxiouse to post it in the completed projects section of sawmill creek for you all to see.

Did I mention I have never finished maple or birch before??? The customer wants the color to be that of a deep red/brown look, I believe it resembles that of red mahogany. I did several practice boards today, experimenting with using reddish brown transtint dye, red mahogany transtint dye, lowe's clear shellac and amber shellac. The customer wants the finish to be semi gloss poly. The best matches I came up with was this formula:

1. coat of red mahogany mixed full strength with 50/50 denatured alcohol and water
2. coat of amber shellac
3. light sanding
4. coat of red mahogany (to get darker as the customer wishes darker)
5. coat of amber shellac
6. 1st coat of poly

Of course I could go 3 coats of red mahogany to darken more if needed. The amber shellac seems to darken the overall color more which I think is preferred. Please, any suggestions would be appreciated. I did try a coat of shellac before applying tint but I did not like the visual results. What grit sand paper should I use after the shellac dries? Also, the last sanding done on the project was with 150 grit, I read were you should not go further than 120 on maple and if so then should I resand with using 120 before actually doing the finish?

P.S. The next time a customer wants this darker color I will recommend Mahogany for the wood instead of trying to darken a lighter wood, just a thought.

Thanks a lot for all of everyone's input as it is greatly appreciated.

Jerry

I have several concerns about your finishing schedule. First is the choice of TranTint for the dye. Since this is soluble in almost everything, it is likely to lift into the shellac coats. Using water soluble TransFast avoids this problem. By the way, red mahogany is pretty red.

A second coat of dye after sealing with shellac won't work very well and is likely to emphasize any tendency for the wood to blotch. You might not see this at all on a small sample but have it jump at you on the larger project. You can get a darker color by mixing the dye to a stronger concentration for your first coat.

Amber shellac is not a good choice between coats since the liquid Amber and Clear shellacs contain wax. Polyurethane top coats may not adhere well over shellac with wax. The only dewaxed shellac available as a liquid is Seal Coat and it is a blonde color. You can mix your own dewaxed shellac from flakes. Dewaxed shellac flakes are available in a very wide range of colors. See www.homesteadfinishing.com for both the TransFast and shellac flakes.

Stop sanding the plywood. Sanding with 150 means you have almost sanded through the veneer. That coarse sanding is only recommended when the stain is a pigmented stain, so some can lodge in the scratches. 220 grit is fine with dye but I wouldn't sand the plywood any more. You can do the solid face frames and panels up to 220.

What I would recommend is to use the dye to establish your basic color, seal with shellac (about 1 to 1 1/2 lb. cut) and then use a pigmented gel (Bartley and General make such stains) stain (as a glaze) to add a little extra darkness and add "depth" to the finish.

The key is to make all your mistakes on samples, not on the project. I'd run a completed sample by the customer before putting dye on the project.

that appears to be sound advice. I will look for the dewaxed shellac, in fact I have read that several times and actually forgot that small fact when purchasing products. And yes, I believe I would be able to go darker with a stronger concentration, currently I mixed 1/4 teaspoon with 2 oz. which is equal to just over 1/2 oz of tint per quart. And the gel stain to offer a deeper color may be just perfect. I also agree the red mahogany is a pretty red color.

Thanks again,

Jerry

Jerry,

I'm currenly building a dresser out of maple and was looking for some finishing tips on the darker red color you mentioned. Can you post some pictures of your samples or shoot me a pm with them included. Thanks.

Brian