Best Finish for Makore

[james_e5]

Looking for a little advice from the wood finish guru's here. I was thinking of using dewaxed shellac (blonde or amber?) with some sort of clear over the top (maybe arm-r-seal gloss?). I really want to bring out the amber and brown hues.

I'm looking for that "real" wood feel. I don't want these to look like plastic, like you get sometimes with poly. I guess hand rubbed would be the look I'm going for.

Thanks
-j

[captainobvious99]

The arm-r-seal gloss is what Im using on mine as it has gotten great reviews and seems to be extremely easy to apply. Im also doing a stain underneath. If you want the hand rubbed natural look though, I'd probably go with the satin over the gloss. Is your Makore really figured? Its a beautiful wood, for sure :)

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[r-carpenter]

Makkore which is actually a variety of Cherry. It can be a bit pinkish under a clear coat.
I'd use alcohol or water based aniline die to bring out the grain and contrast and follow up with oil finish like Tung or Danish. Oil does not build up and will give you that natural "had rubbed" look.
Stay away from oil stains, they tend to even everything out but also diminish the grain effects and translucency of the wood.

[james_e5]

The arm-r-seal gloss is what Im using on mine as it has gotten great reviews and seems to be extremely easy to apply. Im also doing a stain underneath. If you want the hand rubbed natural look though, I'd probably go with the satin over the gloss. Is your Makore really figured? Its a beautiful wood, for sure :)

Good luck with whatever you choose.

So are you just using arm-r-seal right over the stain? What type of prep are you doing to the raw wood?

The veneer I'm using is raw fiddleback makore. It is pretty heavily figured.

-j

[james_e5]

Makkore which is actually a variety of Cherry. It can be a bit pinkish under a clear coat.
I'd use alcohol or water based aniline die to bring out the grain and contrast and follow up with oil finish like Tung or Danish. Oil does not build up and will give you that natural "had rubbed" look.
Stay away from oil stains, they tend to even everything out but also diminish the grain effects and translucency of the wood.

I definitely don't want pink. Maybe some medium brown transtint mixed with denatured alchohol first. Then, danish oil over that?

-j

[biff]

try Waterlox, it's a tung oil blend that gives excellent chatoyance, easy to apply, shows the texture of the surface, and can be reworked to deal with potential scratches, which polys won't do. I like to work my last coat in with a synthetic sanding pad - seems to bring it all together without completely filling the pores and making that fake look some finishes get.

[r-carpenter]

I definitely don't want pink. Maybe some medium brown transtint mixed with denatured alchohol first. Then, danish oil over that?

-j

http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=178
something like this if you have retailer in the area. Behlen makes their own version which is just as good.
And Danish over that after an hour or so. Alcohol aniline dies can be thinned out with well.. alcohol or water btw. Make some trial pieces out of veneer scraps to experiment. You may want to raise the grain prior to staining as well.

[james_e5]

http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=178
something like this if you have retailer in the area. Behlen makes their own version which is just as good.
And Danish over that after an hour or so. Alcohol aniline dies can be thinned out with well.. alcohol or water btw. Make some trial pieces out of veneer scraps to experiment. You may want to raise the grain prior to staining as well.

There is a woodcraft about 30 minutes away that carries the Behlen Solar-Lux that I believe you are referring to. I'll swing by this weekend and grab some to test. While I'm there I'll grab some Waterlox and arm-r-seal to try out. Do you think gloss with satin on top or just stick with one or the other?

-j

[dwigle]

There is a woodcraft about 30 minutes away that carries the Behlen Solar-Lux that I believe you are referring to. I'll swing by this weekend and grab some to test. While I'm there I'll grab some Waterlox and arm-r-seal to try out. Do you think gloss with satin on top or just stick with one or the other?

-j

Some of this stuff is expensive, you might try to settle on one and go for it. I've used satin waterlox extensively. It is completely idiot proof. I've even used it on a dining table. The best part is that you can re-coat years later without sanding.

I rub in the first coat using a paper towel. The second and third coats go on with a white 3m pad - it creates a slurry that fills the pores a little and leaves a glass like finish. The last coat goes on with a paper towel and you're done.

[r-carpenter]

There is a woodcraft about 30 minutes away that carries the Behlen Solar-Lux that I believe you are referring to. I'll swing by this weekend and grab some to test.


While I'm there I'll grab some Waterlox and arm-r-seal to try out. Do you think gloss with satin on top or just stick with one or the other?

-j

You can start with gloss and finish with satin or just do 3 coats of satin.

[LouC]

Looking for a little advice from the wood finish guru's here. I was thinking of using dewaxed shellac (blonde or amber?) with some sort of clear over the top (maybe arm-r-seal gloss?). I really want to bring out the amber and brown hues.

I'm looking for that "real" wood feel. I don't want these to look like plastic, like you get sometimes with poly. I guess hand rubbed would be the look I'm going for.

Thanks
-j

This schedule would work just fine. If you use the zinsser, I'd cut it 1:1 with alcohol. Add a few drops of darker brown/red dye and pad it on. When dry, lightly hand sand with 220 or finer. That will leave the pores a bit darker and add some depth.

Use gloss for clear coat, (maybe satin for the final coat). I always use gloss, there are no additives. If you want a duller finish, 1000, 2000, grit papers and or synthetic steel wool will rub it down.

[james_e5]

Some of this stuff is expensive, you might try to settle on one and go for it. I've used satin waterlox extensively. It is completely idiot proof. I've even used it on a dining table. The best part is that you can re-coat years later without sanding.

I rub in the first coat using a paper towel. The second and third coats go on with a white 3m pad - it creates a slurry that fills the pores a little and leaves a glass like finish. The last coat goes on with a paper towel and you're done.

Wow...the waterlox is a little spendy! I guess I'll just go with gloss and knock it down if I feel like it's too glossy.

Where do you get the white 3m pads? Does HD/Lowes carry them?

-j

[james_e5]

This schedule would work just fine. If you use the zinsser, I'd cut it 1:1 with alcohol. Add a few drops of darker brown/red dye and pad it on. When dry, lightly hand sand with 220 or finer. That will leave the pores a bit darker and add some depth.

Use gloss for clear coat, (maybe satin for the final coat). I always use gloss, there are no additives. If you want a duller finish, 1000, 2000, grit papers and or synthetic steel wool will rub it down.

Good advice on the zinsser Lou. I'll give that a try on a sample.

-j

[captainobvious99]

So are you just using arm-r-seal right over the stain? What type of prep are you doing to the raw wood?

The veneer I'm using is raw fiddleback makore. It is pretty heavily figured.

-j

Im using the General Finishes pre-stain conditioner, followed by their gel stain, followed by the arm-r-seal. My wood is Cherry so the pre-stain is a must to prevent blotching and uneven stain.

[fbov]

Looking for a little advice from the wood finish guru's here. I was thinking of using dewaxed shellac (blonde or amber?) with some sort of clear over the top (maybe arm-r-seal gloss?). I really want to bring out the amber and brown hues. ...

I just finished a pair using nothing but shellac, and they look great. I used quarter sawn white oak, and wanted to enhance the grain pattern.
- several heavy coats of garnet shellac
- sand until color disappears from the light areas
- several heavy coats of blond shellac to build up finish and fill grain.
- wet sand
- thin finish coats of blond
- final wet sand, polish and buff.

I also did this with the ash baffles, and the difference is like that between a pretty blond and an albino; you can't see any grain when finished only in blond.

I will admit this is very much like adding dye to some blond...

Have fun,
Frank, who needs to take some pics...

[LouC]

That's pretty much what I did on the Cryolites. I used medium brown TransTint in 1 lb cut of dewaxed shellac (Zinsser Seal Coat is actually a 3lb cut) Makore is usually on the red side, so something cooler (mission brown or even black) might look good. (1-3 drops in 4-6 oz of thinned shellac)

Here's a shot of the Cryolites:

http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/DaytonRS7/SideShot.jpg

Same veneer, just uncut shellac + clearcoat on the Braptors:

http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/Buyout/BraptorFinPair.jpg