In this episode, I put the finish on the pencil holder. But its not just any finish. Since we are working with a beautiful curly maple, I think the finish deserves a little extra specia attention. Curly maple looks fantastic with a few coats of an oil based varnish. But it will BLOW YOUR MIND if you “pop” the grain with a dye first. So that’s exactly what we do in this episode. Thanks for watching.
Purchase Materials Used in This Episode:
Hi Marc,
Great video. I am building a backgammon board and the frame is figured maple but it has some very prominent spalting. Kind of whispy with black, blue, green and yellow colors. Will using a dye as you did in this video alter the existing colors??
Probably not in any way that would improve the situation. Spalting looks great on its own and is probably best left alone.
Hi Marc,
I am working my way through the wall hanging cabinet build. I am building the cabinet out of walnut, and I have some nice figured walnut for the door panels. I’m planning on finishing with GF “Outdoor Oil” as you suggested in the guild build video. Is there anything more I can do to really show off the figure, or will the outdoor oil make it pop nicely? Same advice as the gentleman below using mahogany?
Thanks!
Bingo! With darker woods, I don’t see any real benefit to using dyes to modify the look of the figure. The wood does such a nice job on it’s own and an oil brings those details out naturally. Try sanding one of your boards and hitting it with some oil just to see what’s coming. I think you’ll be happy with the result.
Marc, I’m in the process of building a crib with some mahogany. After planing down the boards I noticed that there’s some really nice flame figure. I’m wanting to have a satin finish and let it darken naturally. Would I achieve the same effect with a satin finish on mahogany?
Thanks!
Ryan
For mahogany, I probably wouldn’t do anything other than hit it with an oil-based clear finish. Should really bring out the natural beauty. No reason to mess with dyes in my opinion.
I went to Rockler and got the materials recommended in this video, but on reading the instructions on the Seal-A-Cell can, it says it is intended as a first coat, not a top coat. General Finishes recommends using Arm-R-Seal as the top coat. So I’m a bit confused now. Can you comment on the use of Seal-A-Cell vs Arm-R-Seal as a top coat? I see that Arm-R-Seal comes in satin, semi-gloss and glossy sheens, whereas Seal-A-Cell doesn’t mention a particular sheen. What sort of sheen does Seal-A-Cell provide when used as a top coat?
Hey Douglas. I would skip Seal a Cell all together. I no longer use the product. Instead, just go with Arm-R-Seal. Seal-a-Cell is very similar to Arm-R-Seal only it contains a different mix of resins. These resins tend to be softer, according the GF, and that’s why they recommend it as the first coat. As far as I’m concerned it is a redundant and unnecessary product.
Thanks for your reply. It may also help others who view the video and want to try your technique. So if you were making the video again today, what would you use? If you would use Arm_R-Seal, what sheen would you use and how many coats would you put on?
I would use Arm-r-Seal and leave Seal-a-Cell out of the conversation. Using Seal-a-Cell doesn’t really hurt anything and you can actually use it as a topcoat, as long as you are aware that it won’t be quite as durable as an Arm-r-Seal topcoat. By omitting Seal-a-Cell, you basically just save some money and have one less can of finish laying around.
Now sheen and the number of coats is dependent upon look and function, and that varies by project. Most times I end up doing about 2-3 coats with gloss and a final coat or two with semi-gloss or satin.
Thanks Marc.
Where can one get amber dewaxed shellac?
This guy has a decent selection. http://www.shellacfinishes.com/Shellac.html
Thank you for being the first one to explain (with video too) how to pop the figure of maple in a way that I can understand and apply! I am trying to build a guitar with striped maple and this will make it look great!!
Bless you.
Glad it helped Paul. These are definitely not new concepts but if I worded and demonstrated it in a way that helped you understand, I am very glad to hear it!