curly maple finish.....guestion

[irishtoo]

hi, i am researching my next build. i have several builds with curly maple, up to 80%. i would like to get an exceptional piece of wood this time. the question is how to finish the stock to really highlight the curl and grain? thank you irishtoo. v v

 

[tenngun]

Aqua Forte is the gold standard. I have not had good sucsess with it myself. Laural mountain stains have worked well for me. You will have a dollar or two tied up in your wood. Sand an area in the fat thick section and try several stains to se what you like best, you will be plaining this off later.

 

[Onojutta]

There have been lots of threads on this so some searching the forum might yield some good results.

Suffice it to say that applying any sort of finish to any wood work is more art than science. Two or three guys could follow step by step instructions and end up with very different results.

The LMF stains are very popular and a much more user friendly alternative to aqua fortis. Basically, you want to stay away from oil based stains, like Minwax and other products commonly found at local hardware stores.

With the water or alcohol based stains like LMF, you can apply multiple coats to achieve the desired darkness of the stain. No one can tell you how many coats as that is dependent on the individual grain of any piece of wood, and your preference. This is where it becomes a bit of an art, knowing when to stop applying coats of stain.

What has worked well for me is buffing down the stain to bare wood in between coats with 0000 steel wool. That really seems to give it a smooth and even appearance.

The stain is really only half of the equation to get the figure to really pop. The finish (polyurethane, varnish, oil, etc.) is what achieves the final look and this is where it really becomes art. Lots of different options out there ranging from high gloss to a dull satin or matte finish. Any of those will show the figure if done properly. The stain by itself will look dull and miles away from complete, but as soon as you get a coat of finish on it, it really comes to life.

Someone else on this forum clued me in to a method that works real well using two or three coats of LMF Permalyn Sealer, again buffed down with steel wool between coats, then applying a few coats of a hand rubbed linseed oil based product (not just plain boiled linseed oil). Again, there are more than one option to choose from here. Finally, there are things you can do to dull the gloss once the final finish is applied. Steel wool, towels, terry cloth, Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner, rottenstone, pumice, and even toothpaste can be used.

This may sound daunting, but it really isn't difficult. I find this to be one of the more pleasurable parts of the gun building process, because you really get to play with several different variables to "creep up" on the desired outcome.

 

[Black Hand]

Aquafortis and several coats of Chambers Oil Finish - no fuss or messing around. If Aquafortis was good enough for the old masters, it's good enough for me...

 

[Vaino]

For maximum curl contrast, a quarter sawn blank or a precarve made from a quarter sawn blank should be used. They're very expensive and I stopped using them for that reason.

All AFs are not the same....they vary greatly in color and intensity. Bought some AF from a well known builder and a light brown was the result. Used some Wahkon Bay AF and it yielded a very dark brown. So, if you intend to use AF, try it on scrap pieces.

Also have tried ferric nitrate but the color was too uniform w/ no contrast.

I use Dangler stains purchased from Jim Klein and sometimes use 3 different colored stains w/ a complete dry between the staining. These stains can be rubbed out w/ paper toweling wetted w/ alcohol. LMF stains are similar.

Sometimes a maple stock before staining looks like the curl should pop, but doesn't when stained.

I no longer am concerned w/ very curly wood and many well known builders' LRs are quite plain asre curl.

Below are some pics of LRs that were stained w/ Dangler stains....Fred

 

[Eric Krewson]

With my limited experience, this stuff and 3 or 4 coats of Chambers oil finish have worked the best for me so far;



You don't have to neutralize the stain after using it.

 

[Vaino]

That color and curl were achieved w/ a rubbing out? Beautiful LR to say the least.....Fred

 

[Eric Krewson]

I whiskered the stock, applied the stain, blushed the stock with my heat gun, neutralized the stain with ammonia before I found out it wasn't necessary, let everything dry out and applied the Chambers finish, nothing more.

Here is the other side;

 

[Micah Clark]

I didn't have a great deal of curl, in my TVM Lancaster I just finished. It was one upgrade and I'd say it has about 30-40% curl in the stock.

This is LMF's "Lancaster Maple" stain with a True Oil finish.

 

[Onojutta]

If you have a good piece of wood, when the figure is finished properly, it should be iridescent, that is it should appear to change or move with different viewing angles. These two pictures show how different the figure appears when viewed from two different directions. As the viewing angle changes in real time, the figure appears to move 3-dimensionally. It's quite phenomenal.






This finish here was as described above, LMF Lancaster Maple Stain, Permalyn Sealer, and hand rubbed with Lin-speed then lightly buffed with BC Stock Sheen and Conditioner once the Lin-speed was fully cured. The camera flash makes it look a bit glossy, but it's actually a nice matte finish under normal lighting.

 

[Micah Clark]

That's beautiful, and that is correct. On my rifle above I often noticed how the curl would "move" as the stock moved in the light, especially with a more gloss finish before I cut it back to look more authentic.

A gloss finish really makes the curl pop, but it also shows you spots where you wish you had sanded more (ha!).

 

[Bob Barnes]

Great job Eric! All of those years working on bows was a good prep for the build...you have always really payed attention to the details.

 

[Shnokey]

.40, Iron Nitrate with a splash of thinned down Laurel Mountain Maple honey/Lancaster stain mix. 10 coats hand rubbed oil, and my son wanted it in the bright!!!! Hunters moon silver (blank) courtesy of David Price, then I engraved it with an old fashioned "face" from a Grimm fairy tail book image my son always liked...

I think we are going to have another drought - not just water this time, but some Grey fuzzy little critters... My son thinks so...