Figure or Blotch

[Chris Fiore]

The maple I'm working with seems to have some nice figure, which I'm trying to make pop. I'm using a transtint dye, and started testing things out on a scrap piece left over from my drawer. Towards the top of the board I get the striped look that I want, but near some the knots there appears to be a much darker area. I don't have any knots in the finished pieces, so maybe there isn't anything to worry about. I do not have much experience with how things are "supposed to look" since this is my first build/finishing project. I have a prestain available, but I'm worried it will hide the figure which I want to see. Can anyone provide any feedback on how this looks?

finish1.JPG
finish2.JPG
finish3.JPG

[glenn bradley]

If you like it, its figure. If you don't like it, its blotch. Charles Neil on popping maple figure.

[Prashun Patel]

Are those two different boards? The top picture does not look like the bottom two.

Did you prep the board properly and evenly?

[Robin Frierson]

I usually get uneven dye penetration with maple to some degree. Its helps to not sand too fine...I stop at 180 or handplane if you can. You can also try a very light coat of shellac first, like a 1/2lb cut, and see if that helps but that will cut the amount of dye in the curl. Even without knots if you get different grain you can get more penetration. There are some blotch control products that I have never tried so cant say how they work.

[Chris Fiore]

I sanded this to 220, so maybe I should back down to 180.

Prashun, all three pictures are of the same board.

[David Helm]

Figure doesn't necessarily happen at every spot on the board, and it changes as you resaw. It may get more pronounced or disappear altogether. I use a lot of figured Maple but I never ever dye or stain it. I usually start with a very light cut of blond shellac, resand at the finest level board was sanded at, then multiple coats of Maloof Oil (equal parts of Tung Oil, Boiled Linseed Oil and Urethane Varnish). Final finish is paste wax. Incidentally, I generally sand to 400 grit.

[David Helm]

P1060301.JPG This can give you an idea as to what figure can do.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

What you see in your samples is what you'll likely end up with, unless you have boards with very even figure throughout.

The "figure" is due to alternating grain direction in the board, where it basically alternates up and down. The darker areas are where the grain turns down into the face of the board, causing a surface that's similar to end grain. This allows more of the dye to get into the wood, causing it to be darker. With uniform figure, this is desirable. When the grain or figure is not uniform, it's less desirable.
It's similar to blotching, but not exactly the same thing.

[John TenEyck]

What I see around that knot is botching to me; the other areas are just where the grain changed direction. Spraying will prevent the thirsty areas from absorbing more than the other areas and minimize the potential for blotching. If you can't spray - embrace the "figure".

John

[Chris Fiore]

I have Charles Neil blotch control which I planned on using for the table top and other plywood sections. I could potentially use that to prevent the blotch, but I'm worried that it will kill the alternating grain, which I do like the look of.

[Bob Wingard]

The Blotch Control will slightly subdue the dye's ability to bring out the grain ... but, it will also prevent blotching ... it's a compromise.