Another commonly used finishing technique on maple is to apply tung oil or linseed oil after the final sanding. These oils tend to bring out the curly or tiger looks of the maple. Follow the oil with a coat or two of shellac. For a more durable finish, top-coat over the shellac with a clear lacquer or polyurethane.
Maple Finishing Tips
Give maple an aged look with dye and an oil/varnish mix. Sand to 220 grit, wipe off dust, then damp-sponge the wood and sand as above. Wipe on a dye stain to suit, and let dry. Then sand with a fine grit (320 or 440), remove dust, and add a coat of oil/varnish blend, wiping off the excess.
Use Dewaxed Shellac for Your Best “Clear” Finish On Curly Maple. Of all the basic clear topcoats you can choose from, dewaxed shellac provides a surprising chatoyance that you just don't get with other finishes.
Shellac. In my opinion, shellac is the best natural wood finish for one main reason: it's the most protective natural finish on the market. Unlike other options, shellac forms a barrier on top of the wood, stopping water, dirt, and other things (*cough*crayon*cough) from reaching the pores of the wood.
Danish oil is a highly durable wood finish that is made by mixing boiled linseed or tung oil, varnish, and paint thinner. It is regularly applied with a cloth or brush to coat wooden utensils and handles for a natural matte or gloss finish.
There are three types of clear topcoats used to seal natural wood or bleached furniture – polyurethane, polycrylic, and wax finishes. Each type of clear coat has different pros, cons, and projects that it's best suited for. Polyurethane is available in oil-based and water-based finishes.
Avoid conversion lacquer, which is the amino-alkyd resin with nitrocellulose added. Nitrocellulose will yellow significantly over time. A final option is a dewaxed colorless shellac. Ultrapale and super blonde will have just a hint of color, while bleached shellac has virtually no color.
Maple needs to be sealed/finished. It will become very unattractive rather quickly if not.
Ideally, your stain will preserve the rich color of your maple cabinets, not hide it. But maple is tricky–it can dry blotchy and fade over time with poor treatment or low-quality stains. That is why we'd recommend using a pre-stain conditioner, like Minwax, to first prepare your maple for staining.
Linseed oil carries a slight yellow tint, whereas tung oil dries to a clear finish. Tung oil creates a harder, more durable finish than linseed oil. Tung oil is more water-resistant than linseed oil. Raw linseed oil takes significantly longer to cure than pure tung oil.
Staining maple wood is a five-step process. First, you should sand the wood to even it out and treat it with a wood conditioner or sealer. Once the wood is prepared, you can apply the stain evenly across the wood using a paintbrush. Be sure to test the stain on a piece of scrap wood before beginning.
We do not recommend pre-sealing Maple with a conditioner because it closes up the grain of the wood even more, further preventing color adherence. In the future, just use our water-based stains or gel stains on their own. Do not use liquid oil-based stains on Maple because they will blotch.
Tung oil offers a number of advantages over linseed oil, including a food-safe, water-resistant finish that's not prone to mold and a beautiful matte amber color that doesn't darken over time. For your next project, give Pure Tung Oil products by the Real Milk Paint Co.
Traditional wood oils such as tung oil or linseed oil can be used to finish maple and to bring out the curly, or tiger grain of the wood.
Tung oil can enhance the natural color, grains, and patterns of maple wood, giving it a warm and lustrous glow. Most importantly, tung oil can give optimum protection to your maple wood. It can penetrate the maple's dense fibers to create a hard, durable, and water-resistant finish.
When it comes to the average time frame required to season maple wood for firewood, you're likely going to need to give your maple wood around 6 months for it to season correctly and be ready for use on a fire.
Like cherry, maple will darken over time, though far less dramatically. Maple starts off very light and bright, with a few pink and grey tones. Over time, it will age to a warm golden honey color.
Oil-based poly finishes and varnish are the best finishes for a wood kitchen table. Linseed oil and tung oil too are a food option but are slightly less durable.
Maple has light and bright white with reddish brown hues before exposure to sunlight. Gradually, after continuous exposure to sunlight, it will turn into shades of grey and pink color, then into a bright golden color with the passage of time. Maple will darken but not quickly as other wood.
Hard Maple may take a minimum of six months for seasoning. Although, for the best quality product, it may take up to two years. The ideal moisture content for this category of wood falls between 5.5-percent to 7.5-percent. The quickest that the Red Maple can season is eight months.
Pure Tung Oil is the top choice for an all-natural wood sealer. While we don't recommend you use it on large outdoor surfaces like decks or fencing, it's an excellent option for indoor furniture, butcher block, cutting boards, ax handles, and other wooden pieces. Use Tung Oil on unfinished wood.