Curly Maple stock Finish
- Thread starter Sundown
- Start date
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
With soft woods like Maple you want to use a wood dye, not a stain. Look for an alcohol based dye.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
"Soft woods like Maple."? Bowling pins are made of maple. Are you looking to darken the wood or leave it the natural color that it is, but with 'protection' from the elements? Both Red Maple and Sugar Maple are harder than several of the species of walnuts. And, it depends on where the tree is grown.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
Hand made (from a blank, not pre-inletted on a duplicator) rifle stock. Red maple, 'natural' oil finish.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
I come down on the side of highly polished wood, and boiled linseed oil as needed. I don't like the high gloss or even satin poly look. Scratch or chip them and --- its like the whole damned finish needs to be redone. With a BLO finish most minor scratches can simply be re-polished and oiled.
For a rifle that I was going to use for hunting Alaska or similar, I'd poly the crap out of it, or go with synthetic. jd
For a rifle that I was going to use for hunting Alaska or similar, I'd poly the crap out of it, or go with synthetic. jd
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
Yep, all the curly maple that I have had has been soft maple. There is hard maple, but seems to me it would be pretty heavy for a stock? I have a 3" benchrest stock here I made from soft curly maple, Its about 4 pounds as it is. I dont see hard maple as very useful in making stocks. Maybe some use it, but thats got to be a heavy stock. Staining soft woods like maple or pine makes them blotchy. Wood dye is the key.
Try this:
https://www.familyhandyman.com/wood...hout-getting-blotches-and-dark-spots/view-all
I know first-hand about the blotchiness that afflicts maple. Prepping and sealing the wood prior to staining evens out the colouring.
Depends what you like. This one is Permalyn, with a few drops of stain added to highlight the figuring of the wood.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
I've been making stocks for 25yrs. Hard Maple is no heavier than a good piece of English Walnut. Red maple is considered "soft', but it is far from it. It is just considered to be "softer" than Sugar Hard Maple. Many times, depending on where it was grown, Red maple is on par with Black Walnut. The 'preferred' stock wood for the Pennsylvania Long Rifle.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
Wet sand with Permalyn Sealer to fill the pores (it shouldn't take much to fill the pores). Mix with stain if desired. Finish with Pro Custom Oil, it beats the daylights out of boiled linseed.
spitfire_er
Silver $$ Contributor
What stain did you use. I have a stock I will have finished soon and like the color on yours.Depends what you like. This one is Permalyn, with a few drops of stain added to highlight the figuring of the wood.
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
What ever you want to call it, its porosity causes it to get blotchy easily. Thats the only point I was trying to make to the OP. I dont care to argue the density of Maple with you.
It's been too long ago for me to remember. I typically just add a few drops of something pretty dark, just to color the sealer coats, then go to straight permalyn or, as shortgrass mentioned..pro custom, for the rest of the job.
Dang,really trying to resist responding...oh well.
You really need to practice on a test panel.The "grit" you finish sand to has a huge impact on....well,pretty much everything that follows.Soft Maple sanded to a finer grit(220 +) can equal hard Maple busted with 120-150.There isn't a right or wrong here.That's why you run a test panel.
"One man's blotch,is another man's...figure".You'd learn that,hopefully,in how it sands up.Meaning,with backlit,close inspection whilst running up through the "grits"...you should get a clue on how any colour is gonna,"take" or not take.
Also,be very aware of the "clear"...and how that impacts any colour,under.There's water clear...and then there's "toned" clear.Sort of,irrespective of the clear's chemistry.Take that more as a general statement.
The gloss is or means,nothing....any clear can be made pretty much to be any level of gloss desired.Each however,requires a slightly different approach.Some are sprayed...some are wiped so each would have different ways to go from matte to gloss.But it s still do-able.
Good luck.If I was forced to give an opinion...sand to 180,no colour (stain or dye),then spray a VERY slight yellow toned clear.This is a safe,first tone.Then cosider going either twds brown or red with subsequent coats of clear.That and consider the word,"pop" as being the most foul,ghetto speak as any ever spoken.
You really need to practice on a test panel.The "grit" you finish sand to has a huge impact on....well,pretty much everything that follows.Soft Maple sanded to a finer grit(220 +) can equal hard Maple busted with 120-150.There isn't a right or wrong here.That's why you run a test panel.
"One man's blotch,is another man's...figure".You'd learn that,hopefully,in how it sands up.Meaning,with backlit,close inspection whilst running up through the "grits"...you should get a clue on how any colour is gonna,"take" or not take.
Also,be very aware of the "clear"...and how that impacts any colour,under.There's water clear...and then there's "toned" clear.Sort of,irrespective of the clear's chemistry.Take that more as a general statement.
The gloss is or means,nothing....any clear can be made pretty much to be any level of gloss desired.Each however,requires a slightly different approach.Some are sprayed...some are wiped so each would have different ways to go from matte to gloss.But it s still do-able.
Good luck.If I was forced to give an opinion...sand to 180,no colour (stain or dye),then spray a VERY slight yellow toned clear.This is a safe,first tone.Then cosider going either twds brown or red with subsequent coats of clear.That and consider the word,"pop" as being the most foul,ghetto speak as any ever spoken.
Boyd L.
Witty comment under development
I have a maple stock that doesn't have the tell-tale striping of hard-rock. It's probably what's been described as a soft maple. The guy I bought the wood from has experimented with staining and the results weren't attractive on this particular wood. As a result I went with 9-10 coats of Tru-Oil. Though it's yellowed a bit over time, I like it.
Last edited:
alintx
Alintx
Holy crap that's pretty!
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.