Best way to darken soft maple well and then seal. Stair Tread

[Marlin Williams]

I am going to make some stair tread out of soft maple. I know its a closed wood and can have some issues if you try and stain it. I also read that dye works well but have never used it and also not sure if you can use a oil poly on top or would I need to use a water poly?


What I am looking to do it darken it to a redish-brown color and then seal with poly. I like poly due to it holding up well for floors so for stair tread I am thinking that should work well.

Is dye what I should use? Any brands to look for (have a woodcraft near me or can order online). I also have de-waxed shellac and used that for a wash coat on some popular and then coated with a gel stain. So I have used that and Gel before.

Thanks

[Casey Gooding]

A gel stain would probably work well. You can put poly over just about anything. Just give the stain/dye plenty of time to dry.

[Richard Wolf]

Maple can be very difficult to get a smooth looking stain job. I like this method, one coat of clear ploy, find a color of Minwax Ployshades that you like and apply as many coats as it takes to get the shade you want. The more coats, the darker it gets. If you need more ploy, go back to clear coats.
Try on some scrap first.

Richard