Finish for spalted maple

[Scott Synnott]

As I am fairly new to turning, I need some advice on the finish for this bowl. Turned from spalted maple it had some punky areas I cleaned out. I have tried Waterlox on a similar piece but wanted to try something else. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Bruce Pratt]

If you want to keep the light color of the maple, consider a water-base polyacrylic. Almost anything else will cause some degree of amber/darkening to the color. All a mater of personal preference.

BTW - based on location and shape, the holes in the maple look like insect damage.

[Doug Herzberg]

Scott, that's a great piece of wood and you did a find job of showing it off. I'm far from an expert, but I think you'll find most turners are too impatient to use Waterlox. It's a great, durable furniture finish but the cure time and time between coats is just too long. I think an oil like BLO or Danish oil will bring out more of the beauty of this wood. A gloss finish will highlight the tearout, but if you're willing to sand some more, it will probably be rewarding. The quickest would be spray on lacquer or General's Wood Turner's Finish, but WTF has a bit of a learning curve and you might want to experiment on another piece before using it here. Wipe on poly takes a little longer, but will build a nice finish in a few days. Good luck.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Scott, I will let those better qualified suggest a finish. I do though think this bowl is awesome. Love everything about it. That's for sure a keeper.

[Prashun Patel]

If this will not be used heavily, then consider shellac. You'll get most of the grain popping as with an oil-based finish, but less yellowing and wonderful clarity.

[Gus Dundon]

How about minwax antique oil? Shellac is good to achieve good transparency and desired surface texture.

[Jon McElwain]

I have found that BLO darkens soft maple/silver maple significantly. I would test any finish on a scrap, but you might find that walnut oil doesn't darken it too much.

[Lee Koepke]

agree that BLO will darken it. Thats desirable in some cases, but not for woods like yours. I have used Danish Oil for some maple and that doesnt seem to darken considerably. Walnut oil sometime will darken the wood a little, but you still get some good contrast. Alot depends on the condition of the wood, the bowls I recently did were oh so close to ALL punky so the wood was more porous and even walnut oil darkened it.

After the danish oil and walnut oils, I tend to use a wipe on poly - sometimes laquer.

[Scott Synnott]

image.jpgThank you all for your suggestions on a finish. I now have several finishes to try on future projects. I ended up using the General Woodturners Finish. Doug, you are right on about the learning curve. The piece turned out pretty nice and sold at a craft fair last week.
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[Jamie Straw]

Just found this thread, Scott's bowl looks great! I just finished turning a small spalted bowl, and am wondering what the "learning curve" for General WTF involves. What are the challenges? Whatever I use, I was going to used thinned dewaxed shellac first to even out absorption.

[Doug Herzberg]

Just found this thread, Scott's bowl looks great! I just finished turning a small spalted bowl, and am wondering what the "learning curve" for General WTF involves. What are the challenges? Whatever I use, I was going to used thinned dewaxed shellac first to even out absorption.

Jamie, it's been a while since I used WTF. It is a quick drying finish, so you can build it up with a number of coats in a short time. After a day or two, the appearance of the finish improves considerably, so part of the learning curve is anticipating what it will look like tomorrow or the next day. I purchased a small squirt bottle with a cap at Woodcraft for too much $. A ketchup bottle like you used to see in greasy spoons would work. With the bottle, you can shake it up and apply it to a rag to wipe on the next coat. It's expensive and it has a shelf life, although not as bad as Waterlox.

If you've ever worked with shellac and ended up with a gummy mess, you'll understand one of my frustrations with WTF. With shellac, you can just wipe it off with DNA and start over. With WTF, you break out the sandpaper and get to work. I learned to avoid this situation, but it may be more art than science, or at least I never figured out all the variables. WTF doesn't darken the wood as much as oil, builds to a nice gloss and can give you a spectacular result in less time than WOP. I've seen many examples here on SMC. Just don't use it for the first time on your masterpiece.

[Olaf Vogel]

If you have any remaining punky areas, then MinWax wood stabilizer is good. Hardens that right up.
for finish I've had success with shellack as well. But if larger punky areas are not stabilized, then they tend to shrink and create shallow areas.

[Jamie Straw]

Jamie, it's been a while since I used WTF. It is a quick drying finish, so you can build it up with a number of coats in a short time. After a day or two, the appearance of the finish improves considerably, so part of the learning curve is anticipating what it will look like tomorrow or the next day. I purchased a small squirt bottle with a cap at Woodcraft for too much $. A ketchup bottle like you used to see in greasy spoons would work. With the bottle, you can shake it up and apply it to a rag to wipe on the next coat. It's expensive and it has a shelf life, although not as bad as Waterlox.

If you've ever worked with shellac and ended up with a gummy mess, you'll understand one of my frustrations with WTF. With shellac, you can just wipe it off with DNA and start over. With WTF, you break out the sandpaper and get to work. I learned to avoid this situation, but it may be more art than science, or at least I never figured out all the variables. WTF doesn't darken the wood as much as oil, builds to a nice gloss and can give you a spectacular result in less time than WOP. I've seen many examples here on SMC. Just don't use it for the first time on your masterpiece.

Thanks for the details, Doug, that helps. I'll have to try the WFT soon, but not on this little bowl, need to get it finished before it decides to move again.

[Jamie Straw]

If you have any remaining punky areas, then MinWax wood stabilizer is good. Hardens that right up.
for finish I've had success with shellack as well. But if larger punky areas are not stabilized, then they tend to shrink and create shallow areas.

This particular bowl wasn't very punky, though there were a couple of places that could have used some firming up (the "shrink and create shallow areas" bit). It's pretty much a "practice bowl" -- testing finish for spalted wood, since I seem to have a weakness for it, and a steady supply being in the Great Northwest. I sprayed 3 thin coats of shellac to serve as a wash coat, tonight I'm putting on Wipe-on Poly, decided not to use any Danish oil this time. Thanks, Olaf!