Help me with finishing

[Woodwerker]

Hey guys just putting the final touches on a whole kitchen full of cabinets. Took longer that I ever imagined but I a happy with the outcome. I built the cases out of maple/birch ply (Had a great source and got 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" for $18 each and 1/2" sheets for $12
The face frames and doors rails and stiles are solid maple. The door panels are maple ply.
I know maple presents its challenges and the boss is looking for a pecan look with a black glaze. I have a HVLP set up so spraying in an option. I am looking for a simple way to put a nice satin finish on these.
Thanks
Joe

[cabinetman]

The first thing you should do is gather many scraps of both the ply and the solid wood to use for samples. Next is to get a pad and paper, and a marker (or a pencil) to mark the back of the sample to indicate what it represents.

Maple has the tendency to get blotchy with stains and dyes. You could use a wash coat of dewaxed shellac as a conditioner, but remember that it will act like a sealer and it's possible to seal it to a point where the stains/dyes don't evenly do their thing. I recommend a wood conditioner like this, but there are many brands available, and Minwax has one too. You might try a sample first with BLO to bring out some grain, but let it dry before applying any stain/dye.

Using your samples, try first an oil based stain, or a mix of colors to get the color/look you want. There are a variety of aniline dye powders available that you can mix to your own consistency in either water or alcohol (methanol). The alcohol mix won't raise the grain.

As for a final coating, your choices could include a wipe on oil base polyurethane, shellac, lacquer, or waterbase polyurethane. The WB poly would probably be the easiest to use. I don't usually spray oil base polyurethane, as it's heavily bodied and dries slow, and is very easy to apply too much, and get drips/sags. If you choose it, spray it very lightly.

Your process in the prep for staining really starts with sanding. The smoother you sand, the less penetration you'll get from the stain. Fort maple, try no higher than 180x. You could try 220x but your samples will tell the story. Take your samples to the finish clear coat as the stain color will change with the topcoat. Document each sample so you know what you went through for each one.

[Garasaki]

Go get Bob Flexner's book "understanding wood finishing" it helped me a ton. Unbelieveable how useful it is.

I jsut did an entertainment center in hard maple. I then used dye stain on it, overcoated by dewaxed blonde shellac. I am lukewarm on the results....it looks pretty good but the stain did blotch on it even though the wood was smooth as a baby's bottom. I did not condition it. Look for my recent post about it to see some pictures. The nice thing about dye stain is that it dosnt hide the grain or fleck (actually accents the fleck - which is my fav part of maple).

Looking back, I wish I had not stained it. It took me over 2 weeks to develop a color I liked. I have a stack of cut-offs about 2 feet high that I tested finishes on. The results are ok...if it wasn't blotchy I'd love it. But it was A LOT of extra work.

[Woodwerker]

Thanks for the great advice guys!!!
I will post some pics when all is done

[mschrank]

I recommend a wood conditioner like this, but there are many brands available, and Minwax has one too.

Cabman,

I don't mean to derail from the OP, but this is somewhat related:
Can Benite be used under water-based stains & topcoats? I'm getting ready to finish a bunch of red alder interior trim with GF water-base stain topcoated with Resisthane. I could use the GF "natural" stain to condition the wood (I've tried a sample and that method eliminates blotching), but I have more Benite on hand and would like to give that a try.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Cabman,

I don't mean to derail from the OP, but this is somewhat related:
Can Benite be used under water-based stains & topcoats? I'm getting ready to finish a bunch of red alder interior trim with GF water-base stain topcoated with Resisthane. I could use the GF "natural" stain to condition the wood (I've tried a sample and that method eliminates blotching), but I have more Benite on hand and would like to give that a try.

I am not Cabinetman but the answer is nope. You would need a water based pre-stain conditioner IMHO.

Woodworker, the key here is the glaze. This is going to go a long way in solving blotching, etc as the glaze sits on top of the prior layers and obscures the underlaying finish. I would use dye, then gel stain, seal it with thinned poly, glaze it, then finish with a few coats of poly.

[Uncle Cracker]

Help you with finishing? OK, you're finished... There, that was easy. Look me up again when I can be of less help...

[cabinetman]

Cabman,

I don't mean to derail from the OP, but this is somewhat related:
Can Benite be used under water-based stains & topcoats? I'm getting ready to finish a bunch of red alder interior trim with GF water-base stain topcoated with Resisthane. I could use the GF "natural" stain to condition the wood (I've tried a sample and that method eliminates blotching), but I have more Benite on hand and would like to give that a try.

I haven't used it on Alder, but in principle, once oil base products have cured, most water based finishes can be used. I'm not making a blanket statement on all products. The Benite does help to reduce grain raising when WB products are topcoated. My suggestion is to try it out on a sample first. Do all your steps, allowing each to dry.

Some failures in finishing are due to one or more of the components not fully cured or on the brink of being at the end of their shelf life, or have had some of its make up evaporate, changing its chemistry.
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