Ripple maple Finish Osmo or Morrells shellac

[Steve Maskery]

Try rubbing it off as hard as you can, after just a few minutes, before it starts to get sticky.

 

[custard]

You've got to remember that finishing most highly figured timber is a bit of a special case. Rippled or fiddleback figure is caused by the normal grain pattern being interspersed with fibres that flow in a "wave" like pattern. Consequently some of the fibres are effectively end grain and so will drink in the finish and require several coats to even out the blotchiness.

When I'm oil finishing rippled Sycamore or fiddleback or quilted Maple I'll firstly sand finer than I normally would (say down to 600 grit), then I'll apply the oil based finish generously and keep agitating the surface for about fifteen minutes, then I wipe off the surplus, wait for it to cure and repeat at least for a second time but more likely three or even four more times. You must regularly agitate the generously applied surface to bring fresh finish to those "end grain" fibres, but you must also wipe off all surplus to avoid a thick and sticky surface film. Success is all about striking the right balance between these two elements.

 

[Bm101]

Custard, sorry for the idiocy, how do you agitate the surface? Green pad? I saw your answer re. wire wool so that's out the picture I'm guessing. Being in the cleaning industry .. the white pads you see are softer than the green. Just in the unlikely event it is news.
Cheers
Chris

 

[custard]

By "agitate" I just mean keep moving the finish around. Don't let it just sit there for fifteen minutes, every minute or two keep wiping it around with a rag or a brush (or however you chose to apply it).

The finish will sink into end grain but sit on the surface over long grain, so for highly figured timbers with multiple small patches of "end grain" you have to move the standing finish from the long grain patches over to the end grain patches where it'll do some good!

 

[sunnybob]

My very first attempt at proper furniture uses maple with some cross grain. I couldnt call it fiddleback but after sanding through the range to 400 grit it looks like it has been sanded across the grain with 40 grit. Its better than the bare plank gave me expectations of.
Another first is I have used blonde shellac on it.
I am amazed how white the wood has stayed, it looks untreated from a distance.
But it is garden coffee tables, so we shall see how quickly my XXL sunlight affects the finish.

 

[Andy Kev.]

You've got to remember that finishing most highly figured timber is a bit of a special case. Rippled or fiddleback figure is caused by the normal grain pattern being interspersed with fibres that flow in a "wave" like pattern. Consequently some of the fibres are effectively end grain and so will drink in the finish and require several coats to even out the blotchiness.

When I'm oil finishing rippled Sycamore or fiddleback or quilted Maple I'll firstly sand finer than I normally would (say down to 600 grit), then I'll apply the oil based finish generously and keep agitating the surface for about fifteen minutes, then I wipe off the surplus, wait for it to cure and repeat at least for a second time but more likely three or even four more times. You must regularly agitate the generously applied surface to bring fresh finish to those "end grain" fibres, but you must also wipe off all surplus to avoid a thick and sticky surface film. Success is all about striking the right balance between these two elements.

Do you regard fine sanding as being preferable to planing the surface? I ask because the surface of planed maple looks as though it can't be improved upon as a preparation for finishing.

 

[mbartlett99]

I can't speak to Custards solid boards but my veneer was effectively corrugated - like wet sand on a beach. The chance of tearout with a regular plane would have been high. Even my card scraper bounced from peak to peak. It'd be interesting to have had a scraper plane though.

 

[Andy Kev.]

That's interesting because I've just planed up a bit of hard maple which has got distinct ripple although not to the extent of the boards in Custard's pictures. There was tearout when I was getting it flat but when I did the final bit with a finely set, freshly sharpened plane, it came up beautifully. And that's why I asked, because to my (admittedly inexpert) eye, it looks as if it can't be bettered.

 

[RogerM]

I'm coming in a bit late on this one, but I had a similar problem on my Sunburst dining table. This had a cherry inner and a birds eye maple outer ring, and I wanted to keep the birdseye maple as pale as possible. After much trial and error, as described in the thread, I settled on a single coat of Polyx raw on the maple, and two further coats of Osmo top oil over everything. The result is virtually bombproof and the darkening is very minimal. You do need to mask off any dark wood though as the Osmo Raw destroys the figure in dark woods. It works by containing a very small amount of white pigment which keeps the pale wood pale without obscuring the figure. Maybe worth a try on this project?