Birdseye Maple Finish Question

[Jim W]

I'm making some picture frames that I want to make of birdseye maple. I'd like to make the birdseye maple really pop out without darkening it too much. This wood is really expensive and I don't want to use any more of it than necessary to experiment with finishes, so I'm looking for suggestions for stains and/or finishes that will bring out depth and beauty of this wood.

[Knottscott]

I wouldn't stain BE maple....it's such a naturally stunning wood by itself...I'd think you'd do more harm than good trying to stain it... plus maple is tough to stain anyway. If you use something like a tung oil or danish oil, it'll get some golden color to darken it a bit and will add enough depth to make it pop. Water base finishes will be much less "gold" in color. You can get some contrast with the mat border or a secondary wood.

Here's the look you can expect with natural oil based finishes with no stain.

[Garasaki]

If you really want to stain it, I'd mix my own dye stain - apply, sand, apply, sand, etc it will REALLY bring the figure out.

I would imagine there is no reason you couldn't practice on "regular" maple scraps whilst trying to get the color right - it shouldn't be signifigantly different on the birdseye maple.

[Crockett]

Jim,
I agree with dustmight, I have made a bunch of frames out od birdseye and found that the tungoil bring a nice warm look and really shows off the wood. Here is a pic I found of one I made:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...020103GZt2Llko

Al

[SARGE..g-47]

Stain birds-eye maple... why not just paint it which would be a more through cover-up to hide it's natural beauty?

If it was mine I would take it to 320 grit with sand-paper to intentionally burnish what little pores it has... then buff it with Abralon 500 grit to nail the pores shut and give it a "baby-butt" smooth surface.

Deft Danish (if you want a slight hint of amber) or Tung Oil if you want it clear. Don't flood it as the instructions say, just wipe on and let is sit for no more than 5 minutes. Then wipe it throughly clean. Danish and Tung take a while to dry as they penetrate but any excess comes back to the surface.

Keep on eye on it for at least 12 hours and wipe it often every 3 hours unless you physically see on oil bubble appear. If so.. wipe it now to avoid any nib that might cause letting it dry. Allow at least 24 hours for it to dry throughly and apply a second coat by lightly on and quickly wiping it off.

Again, wipe it dry in two hour intervals for about 6 hours and occassionally after that over a 24 hour period. Then give it a few days to insure it is totally dry. And when it is..... 1 coat of Johnsons Wood Wax if I had used the Danish oil.. or Renaissance Wax if I had used Tung.

Just what I would do with Birds-eye... Good luck with what you do!

[MilDoc]

I agree with everything said. I'd stick with tungoil etc for the best appearance. But if you want a "stain," use a dye stain, not a pigment stain. Homestead Finishing offers some of the best dye stains I've used.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Watco Nautral Danish oil is avail at HD or Lowes. It will work nicely. If you have a Rockler or Woodcraft near by General Finish Arm-R-Seal is a good option as well. I have finished a lot of birds eye maple with both of these finishes.

[Jim W]

Thanks for the quick replies. I really didn't want to stain the BE, but another site suggested that a gold stain was the only way to go. Sarge and the rest of the responders have confirmed what I already felt, and I won't be staining (or painting) the BE. I already have started a test piece of regular maple as Garasaki suggested with what I have on hand, Watco Danish neutral oil, wipe on varnish, and spray on Shellac. I'll pick up some Tung oil tomorrow to add to the test piece. Haven't use it for a long time, but enjoyed working with it when I did.

[SARGE..g-47]

The shellac is even a better option in lieu of the wax for this situation, Jim. It will give it a low lustre sheen that you can see through as moisture shouldn't be a major factor consideration with picture frames.

Good luck with the miters if ya use em.. if I have a definite weak point with anything it is miters and I'm facing that shortly with a base moulding on a chest of drawers. Suppose I will have to reach deep within... again!

[Garasaki]

For those who are opposed to staining figured wood such as BE maple, check this vid out:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=1

This vid dosen't get real good until about 3 minutes in.

It can actually highlight the grain rather then obscuring it. Bob Flexnor also has some great pictures of this in his book.

[mschrank]

The Wood Whisperer recently made some pencil holders with some nicely figured maple. He did an episode (#32 "Pop goes the Maple") on finishing it:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid1344587224