Just completed two hall console tables for my children for Christmas (pictures attached). The primary wood is cherry and I have inlayed hard maple strips in the tapered legs. My question is how do I finish it without covering up the inlays? I have tested various methods on scraps, but no luck. I have tried dyes (they completely hide the inlaid strips) and stains (problems with blotches in the cherry and they too obsure the inlays). Any suggestions? Thanks.
Replies
You could try covering the surface with blue painters tape so that only the inlay is exposed. Then put a couple coats of something (dewaxed shellac maybe?) on the inlay as a barrier coat. Then peel off the tape and finish the leg.
I agree with the last poster - shellacing the maple would keep a dye from penetrating (as long as it wasn't alcohol based).
Personally I don't usually stain cherry - if I need it darker I just put it in the sun for a couple of hours.
Rich Knab
People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit.
"Personally I don't usually stain cherry - if I need it darker I just put it in the sun for a couple of hours."
Me too. This being winter however, some of us don't have much in the way of sunshine. I've also wiped on boiled linseed oil to darken cherry up a bit before applying finish coats. This might work too as an overall approach, without the masking/shelac. The linseed oil would still leave the maple light colored, but a more ambered hue and darken the cherry at the same time. Depends on how light colored JOHN31182 is trying to keep the maple.
I have done a lot of pieces in cherry with maple inlays -- and I just oil /varnish the whole thing.
If you want to dark stain the cherry, and keep the maple inlays natural, I think you may be fried. I have tried too, and have never found a way to keep a nice sharp line around the inlays.
Hopefully, someone else can suggest a workable technique -- but masking tape has never done it for me.
John,
Potassium dichromate dissolved in water will darken the cherry without affecting the maple. People will tell you it's too dangerous to use, and it is nasty stuff. I've read that lye (old fashioned drain cleaner) does the same thing, but haven't tried it myself. Maybe Rob M will jump in and tell us if his lime water treatment will do the trick??
It's a tough thing to try to stop out the inlay with shellac , particularly if it's a fine line. I can never seem to keep from running over, or being a little shy of the edges.
The tape will work mostly, but will always bleed under somewhere, in my experience, at least.
Regards,
Ray
RE: Potassium dichromateRay,I've heard about this stuff for years, but have never tried it. Can you tell me where I could buy it? How about the technique? Apply it as you would a stain?Thanks.
Edited 12/3/2004 11:36 pm ET by nikkiwood
Potassium dichromate, technical grade:http://www.sciencelab.com/page/S/PVAR/10423/SLP2629reagent grade:http://www.sciencelab.com/page/S/PVAR/10423/SLP5455I'd use the technical grade myself, I doubt that the reagent grade is necessary.Leon Jester, Roanoke VA
nikkiwood,
The last I got, came from Garrett Wade's catalog. I've also gotten it from photo supply store, as it's used somehow in film developing. Carlyle Lynch used it to fix or stop the blueing process in old fashioned blueprint making.
It comes as a bright orange crystal. Dissolve in water. The stronger the solution, the darker the effect on the woods it works on (cherry, oak, mahogany.) I normally use between 2 and 6 tsp/qt of water. Try on a scrap, as the effects are variable (perhaps as to the amt of tannins in the wood?) It looks like Kool-Aid--so keep it in a safe place, out of reach of the kiddies.
In applying,I brush on a wet coat, about like I would a water based aniline dye. Be careful to maintain a wet edge, as it shows lap marks quite badly. Start at the top, and work your way down all 4 sides of a table, for instance.
You must wet sand before applying, of course, as it will raise the grain. After it is dry, then I rub down with 0000 steel wool to knock the whiskers off. Use a dust mask, and rubber gloves, this is nasty stuff. The finish as usual. I'll often apply a coat of oil to accentuate the figure, even if I'm putting on a lacquer or varnish finish. (I'm one of those folks who think the blotches in cherry are pretty).
Regards,
Ray
thanks for info.Have you ever tried Seal Coat first -- to avoid the grain raising probs from PD?
Nikki,
You're welcome. I haven't tried sealcote, let me know how it works, if you choose to try it out. Maybe I'll pick some up and try it too.
Regards,
Ray
Thanks to all for the input. I'll give all of the suggestions a try and see which ones I like best. I'll let you know.
I have tried a couple of things none of which worked very well.I tried blue masking tape over the main wood and shellac over the Inlay; then stain and finish. You won't be staining Cherry, though. The lines of demarkation are not very clear.I have tried covering the Inlay with tape then finishing the main wood, and that didn't work very well either. I would either be satisfied with the number one option above or leave it unfinished, e.g., with a blond shellac or lacquer.Next time use Holly.Regards,
Boris"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
John,
You're welcome. Good luck,
Ray
Well, I've tried most of the suggestions on some scraps. Just about everyone who posted suggestions was right - it's certainly not easy. The closest I've come so far is with the lye, but it is very tempermental, even with a washcoat of shellac. I'm not at all sure I can get consistent results with it, but I will keep practicing.
I have ordered some potassium dichromate and will (carefully) give it a try as soon as it comes in. I'll let everyone know how that goes.
If I'm not completely satisfied that I have the proper method down pat, I'll follow the suggestions just to let the tables darken naturally.
In retrospect, I wish I had used walnut rather than the cherry - it would have been much easier to get the contrast between the primary wood and the inlays since walnut darkens so readily. Live and learn.
In any event, many thanks to everyone.
John,
Good luck with your project.
Regards,
Ray
How did your potassium dichromate experiment work out? I have a cherry china cabinet I would like to darken.
Quite frankly, I was never able to get a consistent darkening of the cherry with the PD. Too many blotches. Plus it discolored the hard maple inlay strips. I finally decided to carefully paint over each inlay strip with clear shellac. Then I used a garnet shellac over the entire piece. Then I'll just let it darken over time. Good luck!
John,
The color shift using BLO on white maple is so very light and should not be even be referred to as amber while the impact on the natural cherry is dramatic.
Doug
I would do a "thin" coat of Boiled Linseed Oil or else do a "washcoat" of blonde or pale shellac. The color shift of Maple with the BLO is very slight. The shellac washcoat will prevent the "blotch" of the cherry.
Cheers!
Dark Magneto
I have used two methods to finish an inlaid piece in cherry. One is to apply a lime water mixture which will color the cherry but will leave the maple more or less unchanged. To be honest this is not a perfect approach , as the contrast is not all that great. The other is to seal the inlays with brushing lacquer. This is a pain, but is not nearly as difficult as it would at first seem, as long as you have good eyesight. After giving the inlays 2 coats, you can put on the lime and water, or an aniline dye. If you go the dye route, I think it is best to spray it, to minimize any bleeding into the inlays. You could also substitute lye for the lime, but I find the lye much more difficult to work with, get some on your fingers, and you'll know what I mean. Cherry has an added difficulty in that it can come out blotchy, and the usual solution to this is to apply a glaze to even out the color, but with inlaid furniture this is not exactly easy. I'm making some inlaid cherry tripod tables after the first of the year, and I'm going to experiment with the following idea. Lacquer the inlays, put on the lime, oil it to enhance the grain, then tape off the inlays using the narrow tape I see the painters using on the those motorcycle shows on the Discovery channel, and then slapping on some Bartley's cherry gel stain as a glaze. Hopefully this will allow me to get a rich even cherry color, with plenty of contrast with the inlays.
I have attached a photo of a sideboard that I finished with lime and water after having sealed the inlays with lacquer. While it is made of mahogany it shows the crisp look possible with lacquering the inlays.
Rob Millard
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