trace coat on rock maple

[Dave Macy]

Do to poor planning I ended up using rock maple for a small night stand. There is very little nice grain pattern to it so I was thinking of experimenting with a trace coat. I'm still in hs so this is all new to me but I want to experiment a bit. Plus it didn't come out that well.

Before hearing about trace coats, I was planning on using sealcoat to prevent blotching, 2 coats of thinned out 50/50 with alcohol - sanding with 320 in between, then moving to tinted dewaxed shellac using transtint coffee and a 1lb cut of shellac. But then I was thinking of putting varnish over top to protect it since there is always going to be a glass of water on it (I'm a runner so always hydrate in the middle of the night).

So for a trace coat, I need something dark and have some ebony transtint. Should I thin that with something like a thinned out Danish oil, put it on and wipe it off 2 mins later? Would the Danish oil be ok given the shellac/alcohol mix and later varnish? Would I do a trace coat before or after sealing it with seal coat to prevent the blotching? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks

[glenn bradley]

I am no authority but, in practice I use a trace coat when shaping non-flat parts. What is your purpose for the trace coat on a flat table top? Just my curiosity.

I do use a thinned Seal Coat for blotch control with good success. I tend to hit the can mix 1:1 with DNA and then hit that mix 1:1 again. I find that any heavier cut prohibits finish absorption too much for me BUT, I do not use colorants often. I rely on the finish penetration for coloration.

If you are going to stain the maple your 1:1 should be fine. If you want to celebrate the figure in the maple, I would go lighter. JME.

[John TenEyck]

Transtint dyes are not compatible with Danish Oil, only in water, DNA, lacquer thinner, and a few other solvents, but not oils. My experience trying to add a little ebony color on hard maple has not ended well. The only way I've had success is to spray a toner of Transtint in Sealcoat. If you can't spray you could try wiping on the toner but you may have problems getting an even color.

John

[Dave Macy]

Thanks. I'll try wiping some on with the sealcoat then wiping off right after. Looking for something to help pop what little grain there is. Thanks