I am working on building a kitchen island that will have a wooden counter top made from hard maple. My project overseer and client (the missus) is looking for a medium-to-dark finish. And of course I want it to hold up well to kitchen abuse.

PotentialColors.jpg

The samples above I think represent the type of color I would like to get. I haven't worked with maple before, so I don't know how it takes up stain. I know when I have worked with pine I always get better results when I use a sanding sealer first to reduce blotching. Is that necessary with maple? Would you recommend a dye, gel stain, oil based, etc? Do you have experience with any particular brands that you would swear by?

For the protective coat I was just thinking of using a good polyurethane. I figure if it is good enough for bowling alleys it should hold up for our counter, but I am open to other suggestions. I have heard some good things about Behlen's Rockhard varnish, but have never used it. I'm not the most experienced finisher, so I would prefer something that is pretty foolproof to work with.

Fortunately, since this is a counter top and the bottom will not be visible, I do have plenty of surface that I can use to test out products and techniques until I get the color my wife is looking for. However, I would prefer not to buy half a dozen products and spend 2 weeks on that process. Any advice you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Final thought: the base cabinet of the island is going to be painted, and I am also making a cabinet for a wall oven that will be painted. I am planning to use a good quality 100% acrylic latex paint, but if you have any other recommendations for the paint I'm all ears on that front too.

Thanks in advance.