Staining Spalted Maple

[tiz1]

Now, finally after two years of reading and learning, I have to come up with a question for a project i got in my mind for some time.

I´m thinking about a Spalted Maple top on a guitar, but stained black. Would this be possible and what may it look like? I don´t know if anyone oy you guys did already do something liek this, the board search didn´t show any results for this.

The top should be stained gray to black, but in way that the grain and the spalt remains visible. Just like on quilted or flamed maple.

After staining, the top is going to be finished with oil and polished.

Any suggestions if it would work the way i want and what i should use?

I´m in Germany so choice of stains and oils is a little bit limited compared to the states...

Thanks in advance,

tiz1 aka. Simon

[Prostheta]

Won't the dye takeup of spalted maple be a bit patchy compared to "pure" maple? I would be tempted to go for a black tinted lacquer over the top after stabilising the wood and sealing it....

[tiz1]

Hi, it would work out for me apart from it HAS to be oiled... . I got no clue if oil can be tinted too. Would look cool i guess.

Sealer is another thing. I´ve been told in a german forum to wipe on as many oil-coats as it needs to "seal" the maple this way... Much elbow-grease i know, but over here the variety of finishing products is "a bit" limited

[GregP]

I haven't worked with spalted maple before, but my fear is that since it's not a stable wood, won't the oil just kinda vanish into it? The inky bits are like little sponges, no? Soft, rotten wood....

[tiz1]

Hi Greg,

i´m afraid you may be right.. The special piece of spalted maple i´ve only seen on photos yet. It seems that it´s not that rotten and at least a little bit stable. Perhaps i should stabilize it with CA before staining. But is staining still possible after that as i guess the CA "seals" all the pores in the wood, doesn´t it?

Or should i try to tint the oil? But with what?

[GregP]

I'm afraid I'm no help... I'm not very knowledgable about finishes at all. My first instinct is that Prostheta's idea sounds like the "best" one, but it's just intuititon and not at all rooted in fact or practice. If I had no guidance from anybody whatsoever, I would stabilize with CA and then use tinted lacquer. But again, that's not speaking from any experience.

[brewu22]

Hi Greg,

i´m afraid you may be right.. The special piece of spalted maple i´ve only seen on photos yet. It seems that it´s not that rotten and at least a little bit stable. Perhaps i should stabilize it with CA before staining. But is staining still possible after that as i guess the CA "seals" all the pores in the wood, doesn´t it?

Or should i try to tint the oil? But with what?

All pieces of spalted wood are different. If you dont have your hands on the wood, its hard to say what it will need. No, if you stabilize with CA, you will not be able to stain it. The more punky (soft) the wood is, the more CA it will take, spalted drinks CA like water. My advice would be stabilize with CA, then tint your clear coat. My first spalted top didn't look that rotted, but some of the lighter colored spots were as soft as balsa wood. No matter what you do, you will have to be careful with it untill you get it stabilized. Hope this helps. If you need more info on spalted wood, PM Drak, he has used the stuff a lot.