# Staining maple an espresso color



## pwalter5110 (Oct 31, 2011)

I know I made a huge mistake making shelves for a nursery out of maple, but I had so much left over from a previous project that I felt that I had to use it up. I went to rockler and bought GF Dark brown water based dye. I also bought GF espresso stain. No matter which I use, if I wipe off before it dries, it looks a little blotchy, and to light of a color. I want the color to be VERY dark brown. I tried tinting water based poly with the dark brown dye, and after 2 coats the color is more red than brown. I also am only sanding to 120. I was told maple will accept the stain or dye better if I don’t sand past. Any and ALL suggestions will be greatly appreciated!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The step you missed is wood conditioner. A wood conditioner is needed on maple to make the surface a uniform texture so it will stain uniform and not go blotchy. Some woods like maple and pine have hard and soft spots in them and the soft areas absorb more stain then the hard spots so the stain goes blotchy. Dye stains are easier to work if sprayed. You would probably be better off with a oil stain brushing it. The water based dye stain will be hard to get off. It might be easier to use paint and varnish remover and strip the shelves to get some of the stain out before it's sanded. When you go back try the stain and finish on scrap wood first before you put anything on the shelves.


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## pwalter5110 (Oct 31, 2011)

Hey Steve. Luckily I have been using scrap pieces. I am afraid that using a conditioner won't allow me to get as dark as I want.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

pwalter5110 said:


> Hey Steve. Luckily I have been using scrap pieces. I am afraid that using a conditioner won't allow me to get as dark as I want.


Thats refreshing. It's becoming a reoccuring theme for someone to stain their entire project, get it all blotchy and come here for a fix.

Using dye stains you should be able to get the wood stained as dark as you wish. I normally use a alcohol dye stain which is less likely to go blotchy. A water based dye stain should also work. 

Going dark on maple you will have to condition with wood with something or it will go blotchy. There are a number of different ways to do it. You could use a packaged wood conditioner. You could also thin some linseed oil with mineral spirits. You can even use an oil stain in the color you're working with, just thin it 1 part stain to about 20 parts thinner. Using water based stains you might try thinning a water based polyurethane as a wood conditioner. 

I don't normally use water based stains so I would have a hard time telling you how to control it going blotchy. The wood is naturally going to absorb a water based stain more than an oil based stain.

My first choise for what you are doing is to use a oil based wood conditioner first. Let it dry and then spray a alcohol based dye stain to get the majority of the color. Then apply a oil based stain in about the same color to give it some warmth.


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## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

Apply a coat of Zinsser Seal Coat shellac thinned 50/50 with DNA, dye (spray if ya can) with a DNA based dye, finish.
You can always "tone" the finish by adding Trans Tint to the finish. A little Trans Tint goes a long way, so test the toning before you apply the final coats.
Bill


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## Rick Mosher (Feb 26, 2009)

You can apply a dye stain to a blotch prone wood and have no blotch at all. The trick is to spray on the stain and never allow the surface to get wet enough to puddle. If it puddles then theose wet areas will absorb into the softer wood that causes the blotch. The trick is to apply the dye stain evenly in mutiple coats until you achieve your color. Allow the dye to dry completely between coats as well. Try it on one of your samples and let us know how it goes.
(Don't do this with a pigmented stain! It only works with dye stain)


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## DST (Jan 10, 2011)

What Steve said!

happily making big boards into littler boards


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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

*Lacquer-based stains*

Maple is one of the worst woods to get an even coat on, as the grain often changes direction, end-grain will absorb far more stain when wiped on, leaving it blotchy.
Lacquer based stains, thinned and sprayed, (lightly misted if need be) will dry quickly on contact with surface, leave nice even coat, color.


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