For maple, especially quilted, curly, tiger or burled maple try Aquafortis sometime. Basically it is nitric acid that had iron dissolved in it. It really makes the tigering pop. It gives a a nice reddish brown color to the wood. In the sunshine it becomes almost holographic as you rock in the light. The dark stripes go light and the light striped go dark. It was a traditional finish for maple in Early America, especially amongst gun and knife makers.
I’ve used it on all the flintlocks and knives I’ve built. There’s just no better way to make maple pop like Aquafortis does. Leather dye works okay too, but it seems the minute you apply wax or linseed it gets muted.
It’s a little tricky to work with, but not bad. After you’ve applied it it’ll turn green like the alien there, but as you then apply a good heat source like from a heat gun or over a hot forge the green disappears into that glorious red/brown tone so prized by antique firearm collectors. It is good to wash down after with baking soda water to neutralize the nitric.
I usually only sand down to 200, the Aquafortis is liquid, plus the wet baking soda rag will raise the grain anyway. No worries. After drying I apply a good couple coats of traditional Viking boat wax. Equal parts or so of pine tar, beeswax and unboiled linseed oil.This will lay the grain back down with good hand buffing. It’s a very natural finish. I prefer it over all modern finishes and use it exclusively for all my wood projects.
Look it up online, there’s lots of instruction and resources on it. The big thing to me is the boat wax. If you can’t find it, or don’t want to make your own let me know I’ll dig up my resource for some you can buy online. Unboiled linseed ain’t easy to find and that is a must! Boiled gives it a lacquered look you don’t want. Or at least, I don’t particularly care for.
Nice job btw!
Holy cow thank you for this! I'll definitely look into it. Seems like a lot of steps that are worth the result I've used Manowar marine spar varnish a few times but it also looks lacquer and doesn't work for most of what I've been doing.
You’re welcome, sharing knowledge and experience is what makes the world a better place for all. I think you’ll like the Aquafortis finish on the figured maples. I forgot to mention, it is the only wood it works on. Won’t do the same on curly walnut. It’s not difficult or any more of a pain in the ass than most other finishes. Give a practice run on a piece or two of scrap first so you see what to expect. More than one coat can be done if you want darker, but remember the wax will darken it too. Not a lot, but some. Experiment with it. Also, a hot plate can be used as a heat source.
One thing I don’t know about it is, if like when fuming white oak for like say Craftsman Style furniture it is important that all the wood should come from the same tree. Otherwise you may end up with shades different from each other in different parts due to various amounts of tannin in each tree. Fuming involves tenting in the finished piece and putting bowls of ammonia inside. The chemical reaction of ammonia gas and the tannin gives you that gorgeous brown.
As for the boat wax it is good for outside use, but requires reapplications now and then. The Vikings used it on their white oak built boats so…it’s good shit. You’ll like the natural look it too.
If you try it, let me know how you like it!
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