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Thread: POP Curly Maple - Best ideas???

  1. #1

    POP Curly Maple - Best ideas???

    Hi,

    I have just finished building some very nice kitchen cabinets with rainmaple frames and curly maple doors with allot of figure. I am experimenting with finishes.
    I have narrowed down my finishes to either tung oil or danish oil and amber shellac and finished with a clear water poly or some other topcoat for depth and protection. Are these the best things to use? I want to POP the curl and have a somewhat natural to tan figure with a complimenting amber/amber-red finish. I've also thought of using a brown water based dye instead of the oil as the base coat.

    This is the first time working with culry maple and first with a multi product finish and I really want to do the wood justice... Any and all ideas are highly appreciated.

    Thanks, Tom

  2. #2
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    So, you are putting down varnish, then shellac, then polyurethane? No, none of those three topcoats are the best thing to use, and even worse when used together.

    BLO (boiled linseed oil) is great for popping figure. The debate goes on for what is best for popping grain in figured wood. You'll find all kinds of recipes for doing that. I keep it simple.

    For Kitchen cabinets, I would use a modern lacquer. It will hold up very well over time and won't look like plastic.

  3. #3
    That's why I am asking....I've read alot of threads and have seen so may combinations it gets confusing...

  4. #4
    There's a great article is by Jeff Jewitt on FWW online.

    http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki.../011135038.pdf

    Basically, you dye the wood work diluted dark dye, which catches all the curly parts preferentially. Then you sand it back to raw wood, which'll take it out of all the 'uncurled' parts.
    Then you dye stain it again with regular concentrated dye to get the piece to the desired color.
    Then you use oil to make it shimmer.
    Then you topcoat it.

    IMHO, it's a lot of work - especially on cabinet when you can get about 80-90% the same effect without the pre-dye/sandback step.

    If I were doing it, I'd stain with aniline dye, then oil, then shoot dw shellac, and finally a waterbased topcoat like USL.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    What do you mean by "POP"? Many mean they want the curl to me noticably darker than the rest of the wood. The makes the curl stand out from all viewing angles. To others, POP means to make the curl iridescent. The correct term for this is chatoyance.

    Here is the best explanation online I've found.
    Chatoyance ("C") is the result of light reflected from wood cells that are not all nicely aligned. Rather, sometime during the growth cycle cell groups took on different wavy directions. When viewed from one direction, some cell groups will reflect more than others but as the piece is moved, a reversal occurs. You are seeing the cell groups from a different aspect and their colors have changed. If you've ever had to try to repair a piece like this, you know that it is impossible to do with the usual arsenal of powders and sticks.

    "C" can be enhanced by enhancing the color differences between the cell surfaces and this can best be done with dyes (water soluble is better here) or colored, transparent finishes. That's why amber shellac, oil, and NC Lacquer work well - they have color and they are transparent. If you want more enhancement, use multiple coats of very dilute dye or multiple coats of very thin shellac (1/2# to 1# cut) to which an alcohol soluble dye has been added. Stay on the lighter side and build your color with multiple coats. Sand lightly with very fine paper between coats. When you get the look you want, finish it with a transparent coating. Different woods have different cell sizes and grain structures and will react differently and some woods need more color added than others but this approach will work for most everything. The dye and sanding enhances the color differences and the transparent finish enhances the shimmer. I have a piece of cottonwood burl that barely shows "C" in its raw state, but give it a couple coats of orange dyed shellac and it looks like it's on fire. I have also seen (but not tried) chemical stains that really pop the grain on some woods. A gentleman name George Frank who wrote a lot for Fine Woodworking produced some spectacular results using ferrous sulfate on figured maple. Forget pigments - they will only hide, bury, obscure, muddy, or mute what you want to enhance.
    I am all about highly figured woods, and I've found that poly and lacquer are much better at bringing out the figure in this way. Oils for me have just made the curl darker, but in doing so they obscure the chatoyance.

    Do this. Get a rattle can of lacquer, sand a sample to 220 or better and spray a couple coats. Once you see what that does, pigmented stains will disappear from your tool kit.

    Here is a pic with french polish on curly maple.

  6. #6

    Joe that box is beautiful

    Hi Joe,

    Chatoyance is our desire. I thought you had to use dyes or "two" tone color schemes to enhance the figure.

    You finished with Lacquer and "french polishing" the coats? Did you wax it as a final coat or just build up the lacquer and sand between?

    Thanks! Tom

  7. #7
    This is so stunning!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by tom paqu View Post
    Hi Joe,

    Chatoyance is our desire. I thought you had to use dyes or "two" tone color schemes to enhance the figure.

    You finished with Lacquer and "french polishing" the coats? Did you wax it as a final coat or just build up the lacquer and sand between?

    Thanks! Tom
    Sorry for the late reply. I just used dewaxed Shellac, applied in the french polish way with a pad. The french polish way has nothing to do with the look. In my experience any finish that soaks in will negatively impact chatoyance as will any stain. Dyes if sprayed in many light coats so they don't soak in will color the wood without hurting chatoyance...joe

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Joe,

    The finish in the picture is beautiful and exactly what I am looking for. Could you please list all the steps you did to get this finish.

    Thank you

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