Finishing Maple

[John Myer]

I built a maple headboard for my daughter. She wants it to be stained a middle brown color. Has anyone ever used Frombys tung oil tinted with dye? To minimize the blotching, I was thinking about starting with clear oil followed with tinted oil. I am wondering whether anyone else has tried this. Another question: Can tung oil be top coated with one of the oil-poly rub-on finishes?

[Jim Becker]

Firstly, unless that container says "100% Tung Oil"...it's just a wiping varnish and likely contains no tung oil. While you could tint the finish, you're probably not going to to be able to get a "middle brown" color using that method. What you might want to consider and something that tends to work well with maple (and other close grained species) is a water soluble dye to get your color, an application of de-waxed shellac to seal the dye and the clear finish of your choice to finish off the piece. Do note that when you apply the dye, work it in with your rag. When it dries, it will appear somewhat muddy, but that will clear up when you add your shellac and top coats.

[Howard Acheson]

John, as I said in the other forum, Forby's Tung Oil Finish is a thinned wiping varnish and contains no real tung oil at all. It can be tinted but you will end up with a tinted varnish very much like Minwax Polyshades. These tinted finishes can be problematic in that they will do little to change the propensity of maple to color unevenly and, second, they inject coloration differences of their own.

One of the better ways to color maple is to first apply a thinned, light coat of a waterbased light amber stain. Then apply a coat of dewaxed shellac to seal the dye. Then apply a gelled wiping stain of the color you want. Then apply your clear coats.

As always, test out your finishing plans on scrap before you commit to your project. No tears.

[Clara Koss]

hope you post the finished product so we can see and ooohhh aaaahhh it... is it carved with any designs.... lucky girl...