Creating an aged maple finish

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for the follow up. I learned a lot on this thread. Mostly that coloring is not something I want to do Thanks for the Minwax OMP review. I have to try it. Not to ask too much of you, but if you can do the solvent tests again in a few weeks after cure, I'd really appreciate it.

[Michael Schuch]

I haven't used Waterlox in a couple of decades. Instead I mix my own: 1/3 varnish, 1/3 Boiled linseed oil or tung oil and 1/3 turpentine with a drop of Japan dryer. The first coat I mix thin for maximum penetration. If the project is going to see sunlight I will replace the oil based varnish with spar varnish for some UV protection. Spar varnish does take considerably longer to dry than regular varnish.

[John TenEyck]

Thanks for the follow up. I learned a lot on this thread. Mostly that coloring is not something I want to do Thanks for the Minwax OMP review. I have to try it. Not to ask too much of you, but if you can do the solvent tests again in a few weeks after cure, I'd really appreciate it.

You should learn how to color, Prashun, even if only for your own work. Dyes and toners offer a whole new world of possibilities. Dye, in particular, can produce effects that cannot be achieved with finish alone.

I'll be happy to test the specimen again in a few weeks.

John

[Jim Becker]

Prushun, I agree with John...play with this because sometimes a tiny adjustment to tone/hue totally elevates things for some strange reason.

[John TenEyck]

Prashun, I'll use this project as an example of what just a little dye can do. This little table is sapele and birdseye maple. They didn't harmonize together very well until I dyed everything with just a little Transtint dye. I'm not sure if it was Brown Mahogany or another, I'd have to look, but it gave the maple a slight reddish tint, and highlighted the grain in both the birdseye and the sapele. Sorry, I don't have a "before" picture, but the colors didn't go together nearly as well.



A more extensive example to really show why this is a skill you want to develop. I cut down this mahogany door to fit a new opening. In the process I had to make a new bottom rail. The door is mahogany. I used sapele for the new bottom rail. The rest of the frame is original, just stripped and sanded to bare wood. Here's the door ready to finish, with the original panel installed.



I first sprayed it with a mix of amber shellac, DNA and Transtint Dark Vintage Maple. Why this color? Because that's the lightest color you see in the panel (if you look close in person).




I sprayed several coats of that mix, then I sprayed it with Sealcoat shellac with Green and Red dye to shift the color (it was too red) towards brown to match the panel. That was an on-the-fly adjustment, which you often need to do to get the color just right. The original door was done with shellac, so I used no other topcoat.



And here's a bonus one that I won't go through all the steps, but involved a pretty yellow dye, then a stain, then a toner, and finally the topcoat. When you look at it, it's clear you can't replicate it with just one step because of the dark and light areas. The loose drawer was the original I had to match with the new cabinet.





Give it a go. It's not hard if you have a discriminating eye for color. Matching a finish, like the second example, really teaches you how a finish can be built to replicate not only the correct color, but the correct look (depth, opacity, etc). And that's a skill that will help elevate your original pieces.

John

[Prashun Patel]

I'm pretty comfortable with dyeing and toning. I've done a fair bit of it, including matching and layering for color depth. I agree, the possibilities are endless. It's just a ton of work. I appreciate the way you meticulously test. Your client is very fortunate to have you. Beautiful pieces.

[Patrick McCarthy]

John, i don't care what anyone else says , your projects are pretty darn impressive! Thank you for the ongoing education.

Best, Patrick