ambrosia maple counter top

[Chilihead]

I'll soon be making an ambrosia maple counter top for a friend of mine. We've found some pretty wood. She does not want the natural blond color though, and instead is looking for a light medium brown ( a cooler brown that is more in the light walnut/greyish brown realm vs an orange/red base) I've never worked ambrosia maple so I'm putting a call out for coloring advice. Stain vs dye? Blotch prone? Will I be able to maintain some of the ambrosia character?
Also there will be a cut out for an undermount farmhouse style sink. I eventually plan to seal the end grain near the sink and the cutout area for the faucet with Clear Cote epoxy to minimize any future water damage. Then the entire top will be sealed with Waterlox.
What are your opinions and sage advice for me? Thanks all!

 

[Bill Clemmons]

If you want the grain and texture of the maple to still come through, but just add some color, my choice would be dye. Either Transtint or the J.E. Moser powder. I prefer water soluble. Get a color chart of the available choices and let your friend make the choice.

 

[NCGrimbo]

I would suggest you cut some of the wood up and sand it until it's how your final project will be sanded. if you don't have enough wood to do this, spend the money to get another board for this. Then try different stains and dyes on the wood to see how it looks. This will also let the client see how the final project will look and give her options to choose.

 

[Willemjm]

Ouch, staining Ambrosia Maple's beautiful natural colors away.

I second Bill's advice above using Transtint. Sand to 320, wipe with a wet cloth, scuff sand very lightly again. Then wipe on the Transtint with your choice of media. Some use water, some use denatured alcohol, some use thinners, some use acetone. Try a few test pieces first to get the concentration right. You will only need a few drops of Transtint.

Sometimes I would spray the 2nd coat with Transtint, but it takes a lot of skill not to get darker areas where the wet spray coats overlap.

 

[Chilihead]

Yes, I certainly plan to do some test boards. I should have some extra wood to experiment on, and I can use the bottom side of the actual counter since it will not show too. I was just wondering if folks would recommend starting those experiments with a dye vs a stain. I'll play around with both I suppose. I'm just much more familiar with other woods and not so much with maple.
Thanks everyone

 

[Jeff]

Waterlox alone will significantly darken (tung oil = amber) the wood without any dyes. You might consider a dye in dewaxed shellac as a toner for a little bit of color, nix the Waterlox, and use a water-borne clear coat instead (gasp, choke, heresy, I'm a big fan of Waterlox most of the time).

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/maple, ambrosia.htm

As a woodworking beginner several years ago I was given a couple of ambrosia maple cookies and I naively used Waterlox because that was my go to finish at the time. I lost a lot of the ambrosia character and definition by darkening the wood. Of course this is end grain so it soaked up the finish readily and may be darker than flat sawn lumber.

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Moved the table to a sunny location in the kitchen (it doesn't look so amber).

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[farmerbw]

Jeff, not to drag this off topic..... but do you have a picture of the bottom of your table that shows the leg assembly? I've got a cookie I need to complete and can't commit to a leg configuration... :icon_scra

B

 

[Jeff]

Jeff, not to drag this off topic..... but do you have a picture of the bottom of your table that shows the leg assembly? I've got a cookie I need to complete and can't commit to a leg configuration... :icon_scra

B

Here ya go Brian.

A pedestal mounted for the leg which is then pocket holed into the table bottom. Rock solid.

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The legs are mortised into the leg.

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[farmerbw]

Thanks Jeff. That looks pretty sturdy. I was leaning more towards a 3 or 4 splayed leg configuration, but never found time to try to lay it out and now it's gotten pushed off the back burner completely at this point!!! :no:

B

 

[TENdriver]

Chilihead, Maple is the wood I have the most experience with but I usually don't do the soft Ambrosia stained material.

I'd encourage you not to spend time with pigmented stains. Maple, pine and cherry blotch (unpredictably) and just don't work all that well when stained.

I've had good success with dyes. I believe Transtint is the most recently developed dye and is claimed to be the most "light fast" on the market. Fading will occur over the years. Interestingly, fluorescent light fixtures cause the fastest and worst fading. Something to consider.

By all means, I'd make up a sample board for her to choose from but I'd also make sure she's aware it's a natural material and colors will certainly vary! That's one of the reasons I don't often use Ambrosia.

 

[chris_goris]

DO NOT put stain on it!!!. I am in the process of colorizing a live edge, soft curly maple dining room table top and have been experimenting with different dye brands , colors and delivery. Im finding the Behlen line of dyes which I believe are alcohol based seem to go on the best but I have only been padding it on. For my final application, I will be spraying. that brings me to a valuable tip I learned from the wood whisperer.... After you finish your dye application (s) , SPRAY a sealcoat of clear dewaxed shellac as a seal coat. Spraying will keep you from wiping the dye back off the surfaces. Then apply whatever topcoat you desire however you desire.

 

[SubGuy]

Try some garnet shellac before final finish. Garnet and Waterlox looks pretty good on maple.

 

[Mgwinn]

Good day all, new member here and could use some expert advise. I’ve purchased a nice selection of wormy maple to build a desk. I have a design and am well on my way to putting it together. However I’m torn on how to finish it, any of you have some thoughts? My initial thought was to use a natural stain allowing the wood’s personality to produce the aesthetic finish. Also not sure if an acrylic or lacuer would be better to finish it off. Thoughts?

 

[Jeff]

Greetings Mike and welcome to NCWW (also please go to the "Who We Are" forum and introduce yourself when you have the time). You should also post your question in a new thread in either "General Woodworking" or "Finishing" but you didn't know that to begin

Wormy maple = Ambrosia maple.

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/maple, ambrosia.htm

The wood is naturally light in color so a stain isn't needed and defeats your purpose of highlighting the character of this wood. Did you mean a clear coat or seal coat? Zinnsser SealCoat shellac is 100% dewaxed clear shellac and you may want to consider trying that for starters on a few scrap pieces. On the other hand, oil based finishes will give you an amber color (boiled linseed oil, tung oil, varnishes, etc) but that's okay if you like the look.

Here's a recent project from Ambrosia maple that's finished with Behlen's Rock Hard Varnish and it's not too "amber-ish" either.

https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63536&p=587062

BTW, we love pictures so send us pics of what you have so far. That may also help you to get some finishing recommendations.

 

[Mgwinn]

Thanks Jeff, I posted my own thread and attached a picture there.