QLD Maple table top satin stain & finish options?

Hey all

I have searched through the forum trying to find some advice on how to finish my table.
The top is North Queensland Maple, I know some may see it as crazy to stain it however I am following orders from she who must be obeyed. The colour needs to be rather dark, I found a picture of a table top which is a great representation of what I'm after - I have tried contacting the guy but not sure if he is going to get back to me.

Side note - I'm having no luck with images on here today, I cannot see others or upload my own.
So here is a link

So that is the basic colour and sheen I'm after, nothing too shiny and nothing glassy or plasticy looking...

I really am not interested in making my own mixture of anything, more interested in buying something in a tin and following instructions.
I have 2 small tins of MinWax Polyshades which I grabbed at Masters before they closed as it was dirt cheap. So around 450mls. I would need enough to get the frame and table top done 1080 x 2700 with large legs.
I could get that from ebay in a limited range of colours but not the mission oak which I have.

I'm also not sure what result I will get with it either, I'll have the table top back home in a couple of weeks with some scrap to test but I'd like to get ahead of this and get some suggestions incase.

I would love to do a hard burnishing oil actually but I'm not sure if I'm able to darken the wood before finishing with that?

Thanks in advance! :)

I think it unrealistic and expensive to expect to achieve a particular (or narrow range of) colour out of a pre-mixed can.

You will really need to try different combinations of stain and finish to achieve what you want.
apart from practicing on off-cuts, the underside of the top is a pretty good place to experiment.

are the legs and frame the same wood as the top or from a different tree or species?

Yes, Queensland Maple is a superb golden colour when finished with a good French Polish finish (and they do not have to be high gloss) so it is sad to stain it. Having said that, during the 1920s-40s it was very common to stain it dark (as they also did with lovely Northern Silky Oak). Everyone understands how important it is to meet one's life-partner's expectations if one wants a happy life (how's that for SWMBO in correct-speak!)

Some considerations for you include whether the table will be indoor only or will be exposed to outside conditions and light levels. Inside you could practice with spirit stains or water stains to find the colour that you like. If it will be exposed to hight UV, outside light conditions then you need to look at oil stains. Those are pigment stains so they hide the beauty of the timber somewhat but they are not "fugitive" (the name given to stains that fade).

There are more exponents of their favourite finishes than there are finishes themselves. If you want a hard-wearing and tough finish that is easily repairable/refreshable it would be worth looking at something like Danish Oil (Rustins is a really good brand that I have used). I finish all almost my tables with shellac in a French Polish but I recognise that is not ideal for everyone.

As ian said - you will need to experiment. Remember, that on scraps, and the underside of the table, if you do not like the effect just sand it off! Make sure that you make accurate notes of what you do so that, once you hit the "approved" effect you can reproduce it on the table top.

Good luck and happy experimenting.

David

Hi Ian

Thank you for your advice. I totally agree and think I may have misrepresented what I was trying to say.
I am not saying I want one tin to do the whole lot (like the minwax can I mentioned) just that I didn't want any suggestions such as mix 25% this $40% that %10 thingiemajigga etc.
I'm totally fine with staining, dyeing etc and then doing a a satin finish etc I just don't want to concoct one lol

I don't know all the terminology or options yet, so I'm eager to learn what is available.
Nice tip about the underside of the table, I think I'll pick up another board while I'm there too and I could do multiple tests on the one piece at the same time.

The frame is made of 2 different woods, they do not need to match. I am ok for the them to be either lighter or darker actually, so whatever works for the top I will deal with what it does to the bottom.

Hi David

Thank you for your informative reply.
Nice job on describing your understanding of the home life dictatorship :D
Yes we have a silky oak cabinet which is very old, you can just barely see the grain!

II really do want the beauty of timber to come through, I have selected some beautiful pieces.
The table will be in a dining room which does host a lot of light but not direct sunlight.

I watched a youtube video of an American dyeing the wood, his results were outstanding. Is there anywhere in Aus that does dye's?
Have you any experience with them?

Thanks again for your reply's gents, much appreciated.

Hi Josh,

Spirit stains (Traditional stain) are readily available from Wattly product suppliers and also a range of water-based stains is available from the sponsors of these forums, UBeaut products U-Beaut Polishes (I have never used the water-based stains so cannot offer advice for them). The forums owner (UBeaut) also has for sale a very informative manual on finishing that you may be interested in https://www.woodworkforums.com/f190/p...k-offer-211660 (no, I am not connected financially or otherwise but I found the book informative).

Spirit stains should be fine in the lighting conditions that you mention. As well as numerous "timber colours" in the traditional stains range you can buy concentrated black stain that, when diluted, may give the effect that you are seeking. You can put just about any finish over the top I think.

Another possibility is the oil/turps based finish called Black Japan. This is a product that is used on the floors of old houses to match the traditional black edges around the rugs. However, when diluted to 25% in mineral turps and applied to light timbers it gives a lovely rich brown colour. it would need to be finished with an oil-based polyurethane (I have done that) or possibly an oil finish (I have not tried that).

Hi Josh

Danish Oil has a tendency to darken the wood anyway, so I suggest you start with plain Danish Oil on an off cut or example board.
SWMBO may approve of the finish without the need for further darkening.

The key issue with spirit stains is keeping good notes of what you have tried on each of your sample boards.
(and I'm sorry, a final colour does get down to 5% of this and 10% of that.)

Thanks guys!

Really very helpful.
I was looking at U-Beaut Polishes, the manual would probably come in handy. I am unsure on the water stains myself.
The Black Japan idea sounds super interesting, I see Feast Watson does a brown Japan too. I googles people diluting them both and they come up a treat.

Also Feast Watson do this prooftint stain which sounds the goods, I can get little 50ml testers to try of those too.

I have some danish oil actually when I had grand plans to do a gunstock...so I'll give that a go Ian cheers!
I think I'll have that feeling the whole time mate, just hoping she approves when I get it to something I like lol.

Sounds like a can deal with a little percentage mixing work, I'll be sure to let you blokes know - thanks again, really a great help.

If you do decide on using black or brown Japan please start very lightly and wipe off the "excess" stain right away.

what disturbs me the most is, that after specifying a beautiful timber like Nth Qld Maple, you could too easily end up with a finish that looks like stained radiata. (there was a thread a few weeks ago where the OP had applied Danish Oil to a piece of pink tinted Himalayan Cedar and after the first coat the cedar was looking a lot like Radiata.)

It's just a shame you have to use a stain AFAIAC.

Regards,

Rob

Hey all

Just thought I would show you how it turned out.
I can confidently say it looks nothing like pine, the beauty of the wood really comes through.
My pictures don't do it justice, but its really something in person - the grain looks gorgeous and under candle light etc its a whole different animal.

Its the exact look we were chasing, thank you for suggesting the japan stain.
I used brown japan prooftint. First I mixed up a super light batch which just served to learn that was only good for raising grain for re-sanding.
I found the right mix for me was 80% stain. Wipe on, come back around and wipe off.
Light sand and good to go.

I finished it with Scandinavian Oil. Its an adult only table as we don't have children and we have a kids table for family, so we'll see how it survives. Worst case, I refinish it with something more durable.

I have done around 5 coats, rubbing back very lightly with a scouring pad. I think I'll add more next week too.
Oh I put black epoxy through the small cracks in the beginning too, that stuff is great.

I am well aware I am not a great woodworker and my joins may make some cringe lol, however its the look we were going for.
Apart from that I am super limited on tools, so I had to work with what I had also.

I attached the table with buttons I made up, I think I will get a mate to make up some steel brackets though so I can put a little more tension on them without fear of braking them.

Learnt a lot, looking forward to the next project that will cover my workshop in dust!

Thanks again the the advise, really helped a lot.

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Looks pretty sweet nice work!

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Originally Posted by jms_8087

Looks pretty sweet nice work!

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Thanks jms :)

Looks awesome. You did the right thing listening to she who must be obeyed.

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Originally Posted by Twist

Looks awesome. You did the right thing listening to she who must be obeyed.

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Thanks Twist, it is often the best way to go lol