Need help staining maple veneer..!

[onoahimahi]

My sister works part-time as an interior designer and helped design a large number of built-ins for a new construction project. They were built with maple veneer plywood by the contractor. The customer wants them stained to offset them from the natural maple floors and they come up with a gray color they like by mixing together some Minwax pigment stain products. When they applied the stain to some scrap test pieces, the results were terrible. Apparently the veneer is made of book-matched 4 inch strips and it came out looking candy striped. Alternating strips are dark and light and she said it looks ridiculous. The contractor said that he conditioned the wood before staining. Any ideas on how to correct this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance=85

Scott

[Steve Turner]

Short answer: You can't stain Maple with pigment stains like Minwax. Look into dye-based stains such as Behlen's Solar-Lux.

[RicodJour]

I don't think that is necessarily the stain's fault, and I'm not a Minwax fan. I think it is more people's preconception of what the finished product will look like. In their mind they had a uniform look, but the wood veneer is book-matched maple - light will reflect off the alternating veneer strips differently. Some stains will accentuate the difference. A posted picture would help determine if it is a matter of taste or if there was something wrong with the stain application.

R

[Charlie Groh]

...I think you are correct, it's a matter of how light is reflecting from the surface(s). Think how they mow major league ballparks...

cg

[SonomaProducts.com]

[Charlie Groh]

...that sounds like a solution...don't wanna be the guy to fix it down the line, though. ;0)

cg

[SonomaProducts.com]