Brendon_t Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 I'm close to finishing the pagoda jewelry box and needing to begin thinking about finish. The frame and top of the box are Wenge and the drawers are maple. Fronts are quilt (ish) maple. My normal go to finish is blo under arm-r-seal but when testing some scrap, the sides of each box are quite yellow and the front is unchanged. It also muddied up the great grain on the wenge. Other options you can think of? I do not have spray capabilities and am not planning to pore fill the wenge (this time around). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 BLO does muddy grain and I see no reason to use it under arm r seal. Have you tried arm r seal by itself? It will still yellow the maple but probably not as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 IMO, ARS gives figured maple an earthy amber color, opposed to the hideous yellow that BLO gives it. I like ARS on figured maple but some people don't. On plain-Jane hard maple I don't care for it and prefer to preserve the white color. If you want to keep the white of the maple you need to avoid oil-based finishes of all kinds. Be careful on the wenge with film finishes...it doesn't take long to get a plastic look because it's so open-pored. I would use satin for sure. These recommendations are all based on my own personal taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 how big is it? a rattle can of shellac or lacquer might work and won't yellow the maple much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 For a maple and wenge box, I'd give the maple a coat of BLO, sand it back so that it brings out the figure(140, then 300), maybe do that again, then do the whole piece in a blonde or super-blonde shellac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I like the ideas so far. The box is about a cubic foot. Not large, not petite. I would really like to get as much of the figure to pop as possible. I haven't used shellac much but I have two rattle cans of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 That's the dilemma with figured maple...since oil and dyes are the two things that pop the grain the most, it's a tightrope act to pop the grain and still keep the white color. That's why I like ARS on figured maple...brings out the figure nicely but doesn't drastically change the color. Definitely ambers it some, but it's not banana yellow. I have to disagree with Arminius...BLO and maple just aren't good for each other IMO. Blech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 you can also use a light dye and sand it back. the birdseye will absord deeper and stay a little darker. I think the person who suggested BLO suggested sanding it back for the same reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Mike, I considered doing a sand back dye treatment but decided against it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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