stain on hard maple

[John Morton]

I make necks from Eastern hard maple, usually curly. My preferred look is a somewhat orange color reminiscent of a violin back. I have always used a stain (usually "honey maple" or somesuch) before shooting clear finish, but my current product has little effect on this dense wood. Should I be looking for a dye rather than a stain? I would rather not tint the clear finish.

[Marty Jacobson]

I've worked with some super hard sugar maple, and Trans-Tint will dye anything, in my experience, just mix it a little richer.

[sunburst]

...Should I be looking for a dye rather than a stain?...

If by "stain" you mean pigment based, oil based color (what "stain" generally means to me), then yes, you'd be better off with dye (what we usually call "stain" just to add confusion).

[Bill McCall]

You can always shoot a dye coat (or multiples to get the effect you want) and cover it with clear layers.

[Dale Ludewig]

Yes, as per Marty and John, go with the Trans-Tint dyes. I use alcohol base, usually. After it dries, wipe back off with a wet alcohol paper towel to pull it off the flat grain and leave it in the end pores. Spraying will even things out but won't bring out the curl. Once you've got the curl accented, spray over to get the tone you want. If you mix the dye with lacquer when you spray, you will get a toner, which will actually lessen the accent of the curl but will even the overall color out.

[John Morton]

thanks, that should work for me
john

[fscotte]

I find dye in water sinks in a little deeper than alcohol.

[j. condino]

Perhaps more important on the "finishing frustration scale" is by using a water based color on the maple, when you add the solvent based finish layer in a handrubbed application, the color will not run or pull up or make a general mess of all your hard work. Combine solvent based color and solvent based with a manual application and you'll often get a very unattractive uneven mess. Here is my old finewoodworking video on the process:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/2007/...unburst-finish

j.
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