This is a follow up to an earlier post about how to create an aged maple finish on a table I'm making of maple and mahogany. Based on the input I got in that post I tried several approaches.
- Waterlox OSF by itself does a pretty good job of giving maple an aged look. The think I didn't like about it is how thin it is and how shiny it is. I applied 4 coats and it would benefit from more. I know it's supposed to get less glossy as it fully cures, but I can't wait months until I ship it to the customer, and I don't want to rub out the entire table. So it's out.
- Arm-R-Seal over amber shellac is lighter than Waterlox and falls a little short of being "aged" maple. Of course, I could add some Transtint dye to the shellac to give it more of an aged look, and that may be an option, but if I'm going to use dye I'd rather just use it separately and spray a WB topcoat.
- Several dye options that give degrees of an aged maple look, both on yellow side and on the more neutral or reddish side of the spectrum. Of course, the finish you put on top has a major impact on the final color. I discounted Waterlox because of the reasons cited above. I also eliminated ARS, for now, and also EM-8000CV because of how yellow it made everything look. I suspect the EM-8000 I have might have been a bad batch, since others report it's milky in the can and clear after drying. Mine's not, and I'm not going to buy another gallon just to find out. So I focused on EnduroVar and Minwax Oil Modified Poly. EnduroVar pushes the final color towards red. Minwax has a more neutral effect, just slightly towards red.
Here are photos of some of the more than 50 samples I made. All were sanded to 220 grit. I used DNA with the TT dye. I did not raise the grain first. I scuff sanded with 325 grit between finish coats. I applied the Waterlox and ARS with a rag, and the WB's with a foam brush. Everything got three finish coats except the Waterlox which got 4.
On the yellow side:
Waterlox, rubbed out at the bottom:
ARS over amber shellac:
TT Golden Brown + Honey Amber, Minwax topcoat:
TT higher Golden Brown + Honey Amber - Minwax:
TT Dark Vintage Maple - Minwax:
On the neutral to red side:
Less TT Dark Vintage Maple - Minwax:
TT Brown Mahogany - Minwax:
TT Dark Vintage Maple - EnduroVar gloss, bottom rubbed out:
TT Golden Brown - Minwax:
I will send most of these samples to my customer for her to choose from.
John
Reply With Quote