On Mar 9, 8:42 pm, B A R R Y wrote:
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 01:25:45 GMT, "Toller" wrote:
I have some extraordinary curly maple that looks great with mineral spirits
on it. How do I finish it to make it look that good when done?

Seriously, a rubbing with a light colored dye or BLO will beautifully
pop the figure. Cover that with whatever clear coat you're
comfortable with.

...

Almost any clear finish that is not too dark will help pop
the curls. Avoid any traditional stains. A true stain is
made with finely ground opaque pigments in a binder.
Such a stain will fill the pores and kill the chatoyance
that results from the changing grain direction.

Dyes don't do that.

One technique that takes advantage of the difference
in absorption between the curls is to dye the wood,
(you can try treating with sodium hydroxide too, that
darkens maple, though not as much as it does cherry.)
then scrape it down with a cabinet scraper until the
dye is removed from in-between the curls. Then sand
(if necessary) with very fine sandpaper and finish
with a clear topcoat, or oil and then a clear topcoat.

You could probably do the same substituting a spit
coat of a dark shellac for the dye.

--

FF