How to age maple?

[John TenEyck]

I'm having a bit of an issue with a customer who wants the hard maple and mahogany I used to have a more golden glow, with less contrast between the two woods. The table is essentially built, so whatever I do has to be done on both woods unless I do some very careful masking which I'd really like to avoid for obvious reasons.

Does anyone know how to give maple that aged yellow look? I'm hoping for some sort of chemical process that effects maple but not mahogany. Long shot, I know. I'm open to any approach, actually. I'm well versed in using dyes and stains, too, but that's not a good option unless I mask off the mahogany to do it.

Does UV light age maple? Seems like it would.

Any help, direction, etc. appreciated.

John

[Jamie Buxton]

To my eye, the ambering of oil-based varnish has a big effect on maple, but not as much on dark woods like mahogany. Sure, it does change mahogany, but to me not as noticeably as maple.

[John TenEyck]

That's right, Jamie, and that's one avenue I'm looking at. What I've tried, however, is not reducing the contrast between the maple and mahogany enough. Any idea who's varnish has the most amber hue? Arm-R-Seal is very pale. True Value's is pretty amber and has a much more pronounced (beneficial) effect. I've never used Waterlox so I don't know how dark it is.

Amber shellac has a similar effect, but less than varnish.

Thanks,

John

[Ben Ellenberger]

I got some garnet shellac flakes that mixed up to a dark, aged look. I don’t particularly care for it, but it might be what you are looking for.

I’ve only used blonde shellac before, so I’m not sure how big of a contrast that garnet has compared to amber.

[Ron Citerone]

That's right, Jamie, and that's one avenue I'm looking at. What I've tried, however, is not reducing the contrast between the maple and mahogany enough. Any idea who's varnish has the most amber hue? Arm-R-Seal is very pale. True Value's is pretty amber and has a much more pronounced (beneficial) effect. I've never used Waterlox so I don't know how dark it is.

Amber shellac has a similar effect, but less than varnish.

Thanks,

John

The jewelry armoire I just posted in the project forum has Waterlox on it if you want an idea.

[Christian Hawkshaw]

What about boiled linseed oil?

[Rob Luter]

I know this will sound silly......

I made a dovetail box for the hearth several years ago. We use it to store pine cones for fire starting. It's soft maple with some misc spalting and mineral streaks and I wanted an "Antique" look. I had a Mason jar full of mineral spirits that I had used to clean a stain brush. The spirits were a amberish/brownish color as a result. Basically a VERY diluted stain. I wetted a rag and gave the whole box a good rubdown. Once dry I applied shellac. It looks like a vintage piece. Original thread with crappy photos here: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ight=Maple+Box

[John TenEyck]

I hate BLO. But I did try tung oil and it doesn't give enough color change so I suspect BLO alone won't either. I also tried the 1/3 varnish, 1/3 tung oil, and 1/3 mineral spirits approach. Looks great, but far too light.

John

[John TenEyck]

That's the best approach I've found so far. I've made a lot of samples using amber shellac, with and without the addition of one or the other Transtint dye to it. The best combination so far has been the addition of Dark Vintage Maple or Brown Mahogany, and then the OB varnish topcoat. The Dark Vintage Maple dye gives an amber look, while the Brown Mahogany gives it more of a reddish tone. Actually, that one gives the least contrast between the maple and mahogany, though it does not meet the golden glow definition.

John

[John TenEyck]

That's pretty much the color I'd like Rob. Any recollection of which stains were in that mélange?

John

[John TenEyck]

Thanks for that Ron. That's not nearly golden/dark enough, so you saved me money and time not chasing Waterlox.

John

[Edward Weber]

Does UV light age maple? Seems like it would.

Any help, direction, etc. appreciated.

John

In my area, I would just set a sample piece out in the sun for a few hours, it will darken.
I don't know what your weather conditions are but it may br worth a try.

[John TenEyck]

I'll give that a try if the sun shines in the next few days. I suspect it will take a long time here in WNY for it to have much effect. Cherry darkens noticeably in a few days, but I think maple has a slower response. Given we aren't likely to see consistent sunshine for another month or so, this probably isn't going to be an option, as much as I'd like to go that route if it worked.

I looked into UV bulbs, but that's out due to cost.

John

[Rob Luter]

That's pretty much the color I'd like Rob. Any recollection of which stains were in that mélange?

John

Not a clue. I've slept since then .

When I made the box (2009) It seems I was experimenting with Mission style finishes. It could have been a Golden Oak or a Fruitwood, or a mix of both. I'd been using it to clean brushes. It looked like strong tea or weak coffee in the jar.

Here it is 15 years later.

[roger wiegand]

I understand that violin makers use sodium nitrite and UV or sunlight to "tan" maple prior to varnishing. I have no experience with that, but might be worth a look.