Need help staining Maple!

[Scott Parks]

I built a Maple vanity that we are trying to stain a dark red oak. (Minwax red oak stain). Anyway, it turned out TERRIBLE! (I hate minwax, I've always had probs with it). It is blotchy and streaked, so I put on a thick coat (of stain) to hide the inconsistent color, without wiping it off. I've come to the conclusion that Maple was not meant to be stained a dark color. So anyway, I get the color fairly consistant and I started to put on a coat of Laquer. The Laquer bubbled the stain right off!

So now I'm stripping the whole thing, and starting over

Anyone have a magical recipe to finish maple to a dark red oak color? Maybe dyes? Maybe Should've used birch.....

[Greg Heppeard]

I've always sealed maple before staining...I use shelac for this, but there are others available. Most of the time it takes a couple of coats of stain to get the color I need. I also use gel stain. This process works well for maple, cherry, pine, and all the others that tend to blotch. I also use General Finish products almost exclusively--good stuff.

[Jim Becker]

Maple is best colored using dyes, rather than pigment-based stains. The fine grain is too inconsistent to capture the pigments evenly, resulting in "blotch". If you do need to use a pigment-based stain, conditioning the wood with a sealer, such as a 1/2 lb cut of blond shellac (wax free) or a commercial conditioner can help, as Greg speaks about.

[Pete Rosenbohm]

I used a red mahogany, ( min-wax ) on maple and used lacquer sanding sealer let dry and sand. Then shot three coats of satin lacquer for the top coat.

Pete

[Jerry Olexa]

My understanding is that Maople will NOT do well w a "regular" stain (e.g., Minwax) . It is necessary to use a DYE to make it look right. Good freind of mine just went through that process.

[Lee Schierer]

You can stain Maple dark, using MinWax stains, but you also need to use their Wood Conditioner to get rid of the streaks. Follow the directions on the Wood Conditioner can. It also helps if you don't sand to 220 stop at 120 to 150 grit. The stool I made was stained with MinWax and as you can see it is pretty dark. Let the stain dry at least 24 hours before trying to put on the finish. You need to get your first coat of finish on without a lot of brushing particularly if you are using lacquer.

[Keith Christopher]

As in another post, for excellent wood finishing info/boards I recommend:

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/phpBB2/portal.php


This forum is moderated by Jeff Jewitt, author of the taunton press wood finishes book. lots of good info/suggestions there as well.


Keith

[Jim Ketron]

As in another post, for excellent wood finishing info/boards I recommend:

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/phpBB2/portal.php


This forum is moderated by Jeff Jewitt, author of the taunton press wood finishes book. lots of good info/suggestions there as well.


Keith

Thanks Keith!!
good site I added to my favorites

[Kent Cori]

Scott,

I used regular pigment stain once on maple and will never do so again. I did not use the sealer beforehand. I even had it on the shelf in my garage but simply forgot to apply it. What was I thinking?

I then used water based analine dye. It ooked terrible until I applied the second coat of poly. Then it was like the ugly duckling blossoming into the beautiful swan. I'll never use anything else on maple again.

[Todd Burch]

...It also helps if you don't sand to 220 stop at 120 to 150 grit.

Amen Lee. AMEN!! You hit the nail on the head. Todd

[Scott Parks]

Thank you all for the advice.... I'm planning on trying a dye, followed by Target Coatings. I've used Target before, with excellent results. Don't know why I tried Laquer, as I rarely ever use it.

On a good note, I had an excuse to buy a new planer to run the drawers through, instead of stripping them!!! I was in Lowe's and asked if they could find the Delta 13" 22-580 on closeout. They located one for $229. Now I have to make room in my garage for a new toy!