How to make twisted maple really shine!


zeboim

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Hi folks,

 

I picked up a beautiful plank of quarter sawn twisted maple.  I don't want to change the color, but I'd like to really get those details to leap out of the wood and get a nice sheen on the wood. 

 

This will be my first finishing work, so I'm turning to your expert opinions.  I was thinking of hitting it with a coat of linseed oil and then hitting it with a couple applications of shellac.  So what do you think?  Should I go with a different scheme?

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I'm going to guess that auto correct was at play and meant to say tiger maple? If so, here's what I've used which I believe is that same process as Marc outlined on another vid.. Basically de-waxed shellac mixed with a dark transtint dye (I usually do 10 drops per ounce of shellac). Apply liberally, wait a minute and wipe off. Wait about half hour and block sand with 120 - 150 until most of the original maple is bare (except the stripes). Repeat 3-4 times and the stripes will jump out and slap you in the face ;-). Topcoat with 2-3 coats GF armrseal (or lacquer if you don't like a yellow-ish look on the white maple) and call it done.. Oil based finish really does a better job though :-)

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What the hell is twisted maple?

 

I found a board I liked at the lumber yard, but it wasn't labeled.  So I asked the guy working there what type of wood it was and he told me it was twisted maple.  Did I get punked?

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Post a picture of your board if you can.  It will help with further recommendations.  

 

I'll give your suggestion a try and see how it comes out, but by the sounds of your recommendation, that is exactly what I'm looking for.  I'll still try and get a picture today.

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I found a board I liked at the lumber yard, but it wasn't labeled. So I asked the guy working there what type of wood it was and he told me it was twisted maple. Did I get punked?

Hard to say without knowing what you paid for it.

Twisted maple is not a species. There are a few nomenclatures that are attached to maple with different levels of figuring. To the best of my knowledge, twisted isn't one of them. Someone selling lumber should at least give the common name of the species you asked about imo.

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Good summary ^^^. Add fiddleback for another term for curly maple. Never in my life have I heard any maple called twisted. He was either screwing with you or someone was screwing with him or they simply don't know what they're talking about. Or maybe it's what they call it in their corner of the universe and I've just never heard it.

One revision to the list above...spalting is not a type of figure...it's a fungus that causes discoloration.

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Fiddleback, tiger, curly, flame...all the same or very similar...undulating end grain through long grain.  Quilting and birdseye are different.  There are other less common types of figure in maple...but I'll be damned if "twisted" is one of them.

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Thats not really an overly figured piece of wood, but its nice. 

 

A good way to get grain to pop on maple is to use a stain. Get a nice amber, brown, or black (hell you can use any color) and it absorbs into the figure more than the flat wood. When you sand it back, the figuring retains some color and gets you a nice contrast on the figure to really "pop".  Finish with a nice clear that wont yellow. This means no oil or polyurethane. Spar varnish, lacquer, urethane, etc are all great choices. 

 

 

Nope, I agree with op, I've got some maple and every time I run it thru the jointer and let it rest, it's twisted. It started out as 6/4 and now is less than 3/8"?

 
figured maple LOVES to move. LOVES it. A good trick is immediately after you cut, plane, joint, whatever, clamp it down HARD to a known flat surface (a table saw top is great for this). 
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