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A finish for end grain maple..

Help with choosing the right coloured milkpaint to slather all over your new project.

A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Peri » 21 Mar 2021, 21:17

People are actually buying my walnut and maple end-grain chessboards - no one is more surprised than me :)

A couple of prospective buyers have asked for boards with white (or as pale as possible) maple squares. Every finish I've tried significantly darkens the maple. I'm assuming the problem is exacerbated by the fact that it is endgrain.

I've tried, either alone or in various combinations :-
shellac sanding sealer,
liberon 'special pale French polish'
Teak oil
Danish oil.
Chestnut Products hard wax oil.

All I can think of to try next is some sort of water-based acrylic, like General Finishes High Performance - but finding any of that in stock is impossible. I've never used a water based finish so I don't really know what to expect. (I don't have any spraying facilities)

Oh, and as well as not colouring the maple, I'd still like the walnut to look good !! (Not asking much, I know haha)

Anyone got any tips or tricks?

Thanks guys.
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Woodbloke » 21 Mar 2021, 23:53

Osmo 'Raw'; works a treat on all light coloured timbers - Rob
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Peri » 22 Mar 2021, 07:49

Thanks Rob - I'll give that a try :)
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby AJB Temple » 22 Mar 2021, 09:24

Yes, I was going to suggest OSMO Raw too but then realised it will be a problem. I use it quite a bit, but a word of warning: it is slightly white pigmented and it is essential to be very thorough in stirring the tin, and you must be careful with applying it so that the coating is very even, otherwise you will get areas that are more white than others.

However, sadly I don't think it will work for a chessboard as you will need to keep it off the dark walnut squares - as these will definitely show white pigmentation if it gets onto them.

Sorry I don't have another solution for end grain. Everything I have used on end grain tends to darken it. Perhaps experiment with a clear resin coating?

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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Peri » 23 Mar 2021, 00:09

Thanks for the warning Ade.

A resin is a lot more expense and effort than I really want to go to.

I'm wondering if sanding it to a high 600 or 800 grit and then giving it a coat of the pale FP might be enough to preserve a lot of the lightness - something to try over the weekend. :)
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby TrimTheKing » 23 Mar 2021, 00:52

Renaissance wax. Completely clear and a few coats will give it decent protection. It would need maintenance by them though so depends if they would be prepared to do that every so often.
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Woodbloke » 23 Mar 2021, 07:20

AJB Temple wrote:
However, sadly I don't think it will work for a chessboard as you will need to keep it off the dark walnut squares - as these will definitely show white pigmentation if it gets onto them.

Adrian


Adrian is correct and I'm sorry I misunderstood your question. Although it will sort out the maple, it will show as a white pigmentation on the walnut, so I'd advise now not to use it.
in a situation like this I might try a matt or satin, water based acrylic polish such as the Polyvine stuff from Ax (and elsewhere) I've used it a few times now including my recently completed bookshelf in Ash. As far as I can tell, the matt stuff is a 'dead' matt finish and has little effect on the natural colour of the timber - Rob
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Peri » 23 Mar 2021, 08:53

Thanks for the help folks :)

I think I'll have to dip my toe into water based finishes !
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Re: A finish for end grain maple..

Postby Robert » 23 Mar 2021, 10:46

I've been using polyvine extreme varnish on my garden table. I noticed the bottle has a 'food safe' label on it so I used it on an end grain chopping board I made a while back. I have the satin version not the matt and it went on with a nice even sheen over the different woods end grains. does seem very transparent on the Maple and Beech.

polyvine dries in about 15mins and bottle says it cures in 16 hours. Add in the fact it has hardly any smell and clean up is with water and I'm impressed. Only just used it for the first time so can't speak to its durability or longevity but I'm hopeful.

I paid £27.90 a litre from seller JDC Paints on Amazon which was the best price I could find. Did my table 3 coats and had a small amount left from 2 litres.
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