Replies

1. 
   mapleman | Jan 19, 2008 08:42am | #1

   try gel stains - General Finishes or Bartley are good brands. Stay away from Minwax (avail at Home Depot)

   Lee

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Jan 19, 2008 12:43pm | #2

   Using a dye mixed from water soluble powdered aniline dye will be your best bet.  To add more depth you can seal the dye with a coat of shellac and put on a light coat of gel stain used as a toner.  You will be wiping almost all the gel stain off so plan to get close to the final shade you want with the dye.   

3. 
   Pondfish | Jan 19, 2008 04:22pm | #3

   Ditto to what the two previous posters said:

    

   1) STAY AWAY FROM MINWAX.  trust us.

    

   2) and use dye stains.  The analine water-based ones work well and are available in many colors from homesteadfinishing.com or woodworker.com.  They are super easy to mix and use and give fantastic color, highlighting grainf and figure without blotching or gumming up figured grain with pigments, like you get with Minwax stains.

   You can also, after sealing the color with dewaxed shellac (Zinsser Sealcoat), add a glaze for a nice antique effect.  You'll need to topcoat after the glaze.  You can use shellac, varnish, lacquer, etc.

   For more information, I recommend Jeff Jewitt's book "Finishing" published by Taunton.  It covers all the basics in sufficient detail to execute a project.

   Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005
4. 
   bmyyou | Jan 19, 2008 05:44pm | #4

   Thanks to all for the great advice - will take a look at the suppliers and references mentioned in the notes.

    

5. 
   JeffHeath | Jan 19, 2008 09:00pm | #5

   Check out two colors of transtint: medium brown and dark vintage maple.  If you want to see medium brown on maple, check out my post of a maple table I built from a few weeks ago in the Gallery.  It's finished in the transtint dye stain medium brown.

   Jeff

   Or heck, just check out this pic.

    

   
1. 
   bmyyou | Jan 20, 2008 04:11am | #7

   That is exactly what I was looking for - Thanks!

6. 
   FrankDrackman | Jan 20, 2008 12:49am | #6

   Please don't think that I am trying to be a wise guy.

   Can you make the project from a species of wood that matches the color you want?

1. 
   bmyyou | Jan 20, 2008 04:16am | #8

   The desk is for a family member that will use it for fly-tying so it will need to be tough and durable, and they want a finish that is medium-to-dark brown.  I think hard maple is a good fit for this kind of a desk, however I have read a lot of horror stories about finishing maple. I thought pecan would be good to work and easier to finish but they want maple.

1. 
   FrankDrackman | Jan 20, 2008 08:43pm | #9

   I completely understand, if they want maple they get maple.  <!----><!----><!---->

   I have used dyes but more and more I find myself simplifying the finishing process.  In the past few years, it has been mostly a tung oil varnish blend or shellac.   I was getting frustrated trying to make one wood look like another… or an aged version of the same wood.  I hate the look of cherry made to look like old cherry.  The distressed look makes my stomach queezy.

    

1. 
   PeteToo | Jan 21, 2008 06:18am | #10

   Frank,

   Thank you for expressing your opinions about stain.  You may have convinced me about how to finish my next project - that is to stay away from changing the wood from one species to another.

   I have a few board feet of Siberian elm gleaned from trimmings of trees in my yard.  It has a gorgeous light color with a beautiful grain figure and I found it looks very much like teak when stained with a teak stain - but I think I will go with a clear varnish finish, thanks to your reinforcing of my own latent feelings.

   Pete

1. 
   Hal123 | Jan 21, 2008 01:36pm | #11

   Just put the finish on a cabinet of silver maple and hackberry. I could not find a finish color I liked or that did not blotch on the scrap trials. So I tried the following and the pictures are the end result.

   I dampened the surface with turpentine. Then I stained the piece with artists oil color. I found in the trial runs that the dampening with the turpentine allowed a very consistent and blotch free stain. Using oil color will allow you unlimited choices of color. A dark color on the maple might be Burnt Umber or BU over a very light coat of Paynes Grey.

   
2. 
   jeff100 | Jan 21, 2008 08:33pm | #13

   That is a beautiful finish. I have quite a lot of silver maple in my raw stock supply and it is almost white wood. Is that how light your silver maple was before you applied your finish?Jeff

3. 
   Hal123 | Jan 21, 2008 10:15pm | #14

   Yes, it was very white with just a little spalting. If you wiped it with mineral spirits, you would not see hardly a change in the grain.

4. 
   Hal123 | Jan 22, 2008 10:39pm | #22

   I have read all the responses and input and I think you might consider something in your design.

   Finish your desk however you like and/or as dark as you like. Then work in a replaceable work area like a blotter that is covered in a light colored felt. This will meet the stain color requirements, the light contrast needed for fly tying as well as providing a non-glare surface.

2. 
   RDNZL | Jan 21, 2008 01:45pm | #12

   As a flytier, I'll put in my oar....

   A light desktop is very advantageous. Like natural white maple....

   You might want to run this by the recipient.

1. 
   bmyyou | Jan 22, 2008 01:21am | #15

   Could you explain why you might prefer a lighter maple top than a darker top?

   Thanks

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Jan 22, 2008 01:29am | #16

   When you drop a size 18 bronze hook on a dark table good luck finding it. 

   Also, the more light on fly being tied the easier it is to focus on it.  This is particularly important for those of us on the far side of 40, but is a factor for everyone.  The table shouldn't create glare but neither should it absorb a lot of light.  You also want the colors of materials to read easily. 

   Fly tying isn't a violent athletic activity.  I can't imagine one wood or another getting beat up because it is too soft.  For a tying desk you can even use a permanent mount for the vise rather than needing a hard wood on which to clamp. 

   Edited 1/21/2008 5:31 pm ET by SteveSchoene

2. 
   saschafer | Jan 22, 2008 02:34am | #17

   "Fly tying isn't a violent athletic activity."

   You are apparently unaware of the latest craze among trout fisherman in northern Maine: eXtreme Fly Tying.

   -Steve

    

3. 
   mapleman | Jan 22, 2008 03:11am | #18

   You are apparently unaware of the latest craze among trout fisherman in northern Maine: eXtreme Fly Tying.

   Don't forget "Cage Tying"

   Lee

4. 
   Mackwood | Jan 23, 2008 06:06am | #25

   Does it involve gladiators??  Girls in spandex??"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"

5. 
   saschafer | Jan 23, 2008 08:19am | #26

   "Does it involve gladiators??  Girls in spandex??"

   You're looking for Ultimate Cage Tying. Third door on your left. Watch out for flying blue dun hackle.

   -Steve

    

6. 
   RDNZL | Jan 22, 2008 05:50am | #20

   Don't tell me you have never gotten violent, either physically or verbally when you break the thread in the last stages of tying that #18 dry.....

7. 
   SteveSchoene | Jan 22, 2008 06:06am | #21

   I've never been able to break the thread tying a number 18, but don't ask the same question about tying a #2 deer hair bass bug. 

8. 
   RDNZL | Jan 22, 2008 05:46am | #19

   Ditto the previous post.

   It has to do with vision, both when tying (looking down toward the table past the vise and fly) and when locating small materials (fur, feathers, hooks and such) laid out on the table for use.

   Excess reflectivity (read gloss) from the task lighting can also be annoying.

7. 
   BrianDerr | Jan 23, 2008 05:30am | #23

   Is maple prone to blotching? I thought it wasn't. Fill me in somebody--not that I'm into staining much, just curious.

   Brian

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Jan 23, 2008 05:54am | #24

   Yes, it is a blotch prone wood, along with cherry and poplar for the short list.