Help Finishing Maple

[Paul Heely]

I'm having trouble finishing a couple of maple hollow form I recently turned. The wood was freshly cut, less than 1 week old and finish turned while still wet. The pieces have since dried and been sanded through 320. The pieces were turned in a face grain orientation.

The problem is that the finish looks blotchy when I apply it, especially on the sides where the end grain is. By blotchy I mean areas are a darker color than the rest of the piece. I tried Waterlox and the first coat was very blotchy. A second coat seemed to help some by darkening the lighter colored areas. Have not tried a 3rd coat yet to see how the does. I also tried a wash coat of blond shellac on one piece. That also was blotchy.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to get a blotch free finish? I think on some future pieces I will try coloring because I've been wanting to give that a shot but I would also like to figure out how to do a natural kind of finish.

Thanks.
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Paul

[robert hainstock]

tell us about your drying process, It could be moisture gumming up the works. Wet maple needs at minimum three months to dry. could we see a picture of the problem area?
Bob

[Matt Hutchinson]

I too suspect that the moisture content is too high, but I'm not sure. What do you mean by "have since dried"? How thick are the walls? By finish, you don't mean stain, correct?

I recently made a green turned bowl from maple, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=84542, and the walls were cut to less than 1/16" thick. This piece dried fast, and warped, but was able to be finished soon after finish sanding. I didn't have a problem with blotching at all, and I was using a wipe on poly finish. Is your piece hard or soft maple?

Hutch

[Bernie Weishapl]

Most times on HF's that are wet I use Antique Oil. It seems to give a better finish when the wood is green and wet. I think your problem may be to much moisture in the wood. I had the same thing happen with poly.

[robert hainstock]

maple end grain will also look darker than side grain, (more porous) Bob

[Paul Heely]

Walls are 3/16" thick. Dried for a couple of weeks. No stain just Waterlox on one piece and shellac on the other.

Applied a 3rd coat tonight and the color seems to be evening out a bit. Out of curiosity I re-turned a silver maple bowl I roughed about 6 months ago and put some Waterlox on it. I didn't notice the same problem. I'm not sure on the type of maple on the HFs. The person that gave it to me is bringing a branch and leaf next time they drop some off. Its being imported from Vermont as a lot gets cleared.

I'll turn a couple more pieces and try antique oil on one after a couple of weeks and let the other sit for a couple of months and then try finishing it.

There is a gallery show coming up and I have to have all my pieces done by Monday. When I take photos of my other turnings I'll take some of the problem piece and post it up.

Thanks all for your help.

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Paul