# Sealing Maple wood and maple plywood



## rdefino (Dec 29, 2014)

So I'm looking at using Maple to make a kitchen island. I'll be using solid maple wood and maple plywood. 

I've tested stain some maple wood scraps with mixwax stains, and they don't look good at all. I was trying to get a reddish look, but decided to just leave the wood unstained. 

I test clear poly, stain ploy and the clear gave a nice look to the maple wood. It was a little darker than being unfinished. 

But I don't want to use a clear gloss, I want a stain finish look.

Should I be sealing the wood first? Will that help in any way to get the desired look and not be glossy?

Thanks


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

rdefino said:


> So I'm looking at using Maple to make a kitchen island. I'll be using solid maple wood and maple plywood.
> 
> I've tested stain some maple wood scraps with mixwax stains, and they don't look good at all. I was trying to get a reddish look, but decided to just leave the wood unstained.
> 
> ...


You need to use a wood preconditioner first on maple. When dry, scuff sand with 320 grit paper LIGHTLY, then apply your stain color.


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## rdefino (Dec 29, 2014)

thanks. Does the preconditioner help the stain from blotching or to help with the absorption? Or both? 

Any recommendations on a good preconditioner? Something at a retail store like HD or loews.

thansk


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

It does both.

You can get minwax wood precondition error at lowes.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you are going to stain you could use a dye stain to get the red appearance you wish. Dyes are not as likely to go blotchy so unless you put a lot of color on it a conditioner isn't necessary. Keep in mind when choosing a topcoat any oil based topcoats will give a slight yellowing cast to the wood and will continue to yellow more as they age. It would be better to finish with a cab acrylic lacquer or a water based polyurethane to keep the finish clear. Without a stain a water based polyurethane usually has a really bland look on maple. You can counter this by wiping the wood down with boiled linseed oil. The problem though doing this is linseed oil is incompatible with water based polyurethane. It would be necessary to allow the linseed oil to dry a week in warm weather before topcoating. If it's still cold where you are it might take two weeks to fully dry. You could rush the process by putting a single coat of zinsser sealcoat over the linseed oil so you could proceed with the water based poly however the sealcoat will in time yellow too but you are only using a little of it.


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## rdefino (Dec 29, 2014)

Do they sell dye stains at lowes or HD? Would you recommend anything in particular? 

thanks


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

No, I don't believe the box stores sell a dye stain, at least not transtint. Sherwin Williams sells several of their dye stains. I use the Ultra Penetrating Stain from Mohawk Finishing Products.


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## rdefino (Dec 29, 2014)

So I went to Rockler and picked up General finishes water based sealer, water based dye stain to test out.

I sanded the piece of maple with 150, applied the sealer. Let sit for an hour, then easily sanded with 400grit, then applied the stain for 2mins. It came out looking more watered down. Didn't like it at all.

When applying to a piece that I just sanded with 150 and used no sealer, it looked better. But I;m still not getting that furniture quality look. 

Any pointers? thanks


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## CNYWOODS (Apr 22, 2012)

I wouldn't use the "sealer". I would sand to 180, mist the piece with water to raise the grain let dry a few hours or over night if it's cold. Lightly sand with 180 again and try your dye stain.

Keep in mind that once a topcoat is on it will look much different then the stain alone.


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## rdefino (Dec 29, 2014)

thanks, I'll give it a shot. 

Is there a recommendation of how long to leave the stain on for? I know the longer the darker and the more it penetrates. Or is it just personal preference?

thanks again


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## CNYWOODS (Apr 22, 2012)

For me, just a few seconds... Let it dry and if not happy apply another coat.


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## CNYWOODS (Apr 22, 2012)

Wb stains/dyes absorb much more quickly then oil base so I'm not sure of any significant difference between 15 seconds and 2 minutes. I've never used rocklers and mostly mix my own and spray it.


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## rdefino (Dec 29, 2014)

Now when you spray it, do you wipe it off after? What is the improvement spraying it over just wiping it on and wiping off?

thanks for the education guys!!!


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## CNYWOODS (Apr 22, 2012)

Yes I wipe almost immediately or as soon as I set the gun down. The advantage of spraying is that the dye drys so quickly that applying by hand can leave an uneven appearance or lap marks.
However I do and can apply by hand... It just takes some practice and patience. Sometimes I do a coat by hand then lightly sand and then spray another. It all depends on the look your trying to achieve.


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## CNYWOODS (Apr 22, 2012)

It get tricky as some wood even from the same tree will have different hues and colors, and absorb stain at different rates. Sometimes that look is ok, others it's not and that's when I would do a diluted 1 coat to try and even things out


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