Problem with dye on maple

[Dick Holt]

I am making a maple cabinet and want to match the color of a vintage cabinet. Since it is fairly dark, I am using a water soluble dye (my first time with a dye). I got the color I wanted , but was very disappointed at how blotchy it looked. I even put a couple of coats of finish on to see if it made any difference.I thought that one of the advantages of a dye was that it eliminated blotchiness?????? Also, how do I handle end grain so it doesn't look so dark? Do I sand the end grain one grit finer? I tried using solvent (in this case water) on the end grain but it made no difference. Needless to say, I am very disappointed at my first attempt at using dye. I hope someone can help me out. Thanks in advance

Dick

[John Huber]

Hello Dick,

I have used water-based analine dye on maple, both solid and veneer, on six projects without blotching. So I haven't experienced your problem and don't have a specific solution. My recommendation is to be sure that you have followed all the procedures.

1. Sand the stock down to at least 220 grit.
2. Lightly wet the stock to raise the grain. Let dry overnight.
3. Lightly sand the raised grain down to at least 220 grit.
4. Wipe stock with mineral spirits to get a rough idea of the finished look. Maple tends to hide waves in the fibers that will show up darker. Making these match the other areas is an art beyond my skill. Let dry for several hours.
5. Apply diluted shellac to the end grain. You may need to run several trials to find the combination of dilution, sanding, and dyeing to get the color you want.
6. Apply the dye as described by the manufacturer. Let dry overnight.
7. Proceed with your finishing schedule.

Hope this helps,
John Huber

[Jim Summers]

For future projects, I think another strategy people use on maple, is tinting. I think it may be possible to add a couple of drops of a tint to your finish and then spray one or more coats to get to the desired color / darkness. Then you switch to your clear finish to finish the spraying. Although it may still require a base coat of some stain / dye to get what you want.

But how to get rid of existing blotches I am not sure. Possibly sand down, then use some sort of a washcoat before applying dye. Not sure how that would impact the penetration of the dye though. I am pretty sure it is called pre-stain wood conditioner. I have used it on pine projects. Definitely would recommend testing it all out on some scrap wood prepared / sanded as the real project first though.

HTH

[Rob Amadon]

Dick,

Figured maple will have different absorption rates contained in the same board. That is why dye is used to accentuate the curl or birds eye's. Regular non-figured maple shouldn't have much of a blotching problem though. What was your application method? If you don't get the dye on evenly you will have dark and light areas. That is why it is recommended that you flood the surface with dye using a sponge and then soak up any excess with the same sponge. You can re-use the excess by squeezing it back out of the sponge into your dye container.

Rob

[Dick Holt]

I guess I will have to practice my technique on some scraps. To answer your question Rob, I used a sponge, but I didn't "flood" it on. Will definitely try that.

Dick