Newby finisher, where to start?

[Bob Jones 5443]

I’m building a cabinet/breakfast bar for our new backyard studio. I went shopping for red oak, but didn’t care for the stock I saw. For reasons I cannot explain, and fathom even less, I chose some very lovely hard white maple. It is behaving beautifully with machining, and like a dream under my smoothing planes. In its raw state, it is a stunning material. I’m using it for the Shaker door frames and drawer fronts, with prefinished birch plywood for the panels. All will be full overlay on the carcases.

Now the rub. I haven’t the first notion how to finish it. It is almost stark white, and it’s going into an entryway to the main room, which is filled with red oak pieces. Years ago I made a bunk bed for my kids from hard white maple and finished it with clear shellac. I didn’t mind the white look in that room. FYI, the counter will be birch butcher block.

So, what for the maple? I have a pound of orange flake shellac handed down from my brother-in-law, so I might try some different cuts on the many off cuts I have from this project. But after a cursory read through this forum, I’m hearing folks say shellac gives a surface color that could chip off, and does not penetrate into the wood. Should I also try some dyes on the scraps?

Should I keep it on the white side or substantially change the color?

The truth is that finishing in general just seems awfully time consuming. I’d like to get the cabinet in before this trip around the sun is over. (Read: looking for the lazy man’s option)

[Jim Becker]

Maple can take dye nicely if you want to provide some "embedded" color in addition to the toning that various shellacs will impart. You should obviously test with scrap of the same material extensively before you settle on your finishing regimen.

As to "what color", that's very subjective. While you might be able to achieve the same overall tone as the oak with the maple via dying, etc., it's never going to look "the same" because of the open vs closed grain structure, etc. I would favor contrast personally, but probably not stark bare maple. I'd likely opt for a mid-tone that still reflects the general coloration already in the room so the contrast is comfortable. Again, experiment over and over and over and over and over and...and...until you get what looks right to you.

[John TenEyck]

What Jim said, there are no shortcuts when it comes to coloring wood. If everything else in that room is red oak, then I would think about tinting the maple towards the red side of the color palette. The the easiest way to do that is with a coat of Sealcoat shellac, and then apply a clear waterborne varnish. If you can spray, the Sealcoat will go on beautifully, as will many waterbornes, like GF's Enduro Clear Poly or TC's EM-7000HbL. But the world is your oyster with dyes; you can get almost any color desired. If you want a bit more red then add a few drops of Transtint Brown Mahogany or Reddish Brown dye to your finish. You could instead dye the piece first but unless you can spray I would recommend against that as maple loves to blotch when dye is applied by hand. Even then it takes a skilled hand to avoid it. Adding the dye to the finish gives a slightly different look but avoids the blotching problem.

The easiest approach to giving the maple a warmer look is to use an oil modified waterborne. It will give a slightly amber color that will darken with age. TC's EM-2000 and Minwax's Oil Modified Poly are examples of those finishes. I recommend you stay away from GF's EnduroVar II, as it no longer has the warm amber color like the original product did.

Shellac is not brittle unless you build up a thick film. Using it as a sealer is fine.

John

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I just made 8 OZ of red that I am excited abut. The recipe is 1 package of red Rit dye + cup of denatured alcohol. It soaks through maple veneer very nicely and holds up to sanding.

Photo on 5-5-24 at 6.43 PM.jpg One drop sanded aggressively!