Wood stain and engraving question

[SmokingUPnorth]

I’m building a wood binder for a project at work that I’m doing. I just have some pieces of thin maple put together for it. I’m planning on getting it engraved and staining it. My question is should I stain it then engrave it or get it engraved. I’m assuming stain first then engrave to get the color difference of what’s being engraved. I just want to double check before I screw this up. I’m terrible with wood working. Some guys are doing leather but I haven’t messed with that either haha

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I’m assuming stain first then engrave to get the color difference of what’s being engraved.

I'm not a woodworker, but I think this is what I'd do then clear coat...

 

[chopsaw]

color difference

How much contrast do you want ?
If you engrave first , then stain you will get a darker tone in the engraved part , just because you'll be exposing end grain . Especially with maple . Is that solid , or a veneer on other wood ?
I ask because some of it looks like yellow pine . If it has a maple veneer , one side will be maple , and one side won't , or may not be dependinh on the panel use .

If you want more contrast , you can engave , color the letters , then resand the surface , and apply the stain to that . That's a bit tricky though , and you have to be carful that you don't soak up the darker color on the face to the point you can't sand it out .
You could just stain the whole thing engraved , then go back over the engraved section to deepen the color .



What stain / color are you planing on ? Any finish ? I've been using Watco Danish oil . Makes a nice finish and natural color all in one .
Just depends on what you like , and want it to be . Flat , glossey , or somewhere in between ?
This is Maple with natural tone Danish oil . It's wet , so normally not that glossy .

This is another with Danish oil . You can see how dark the differnt grain profile gets .

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

How much contrast do you want ?
If you engrave first , then stain you will get a darker tone in the engraved part , just because you'll be exposing end grain . Especially with maple . Is that solid , or a veneer on other wood ?
I ask because some of it looks like yellow pine . If it has a maple veneer , one side will be maple , and one side won't , or may not be dependinh on the panel use .

If you want more contrast , you can engave , color the letters , then resand the surface , and apply the stain to that . That's a bit tricky though , and you have to be carful that you don't soak up the darker color on the face to the point you can't sand it out .
You could just stain the whole thing engraved , then go back over the engraved section to deepen the color .



What stain / color are you planing on ? Any finish ? I've been using Watco Danish oil . Makes a nice finish and natural color all in one .
Just depends on what you like , and want it to be . Flat , glossey , or somewhere in between ?
This is Maple with natural tone Danish oil . It's wet , so normally not that glossy .
View attachment 733312
This is another with Danish oil . You can see how dark the differnt grain profile gets .
View attachment 733313

Thanks for the reply. The stain is just going to be a dark color I can’t remember the exact name. And the center piece is a different cut of wood from Lowe’s a little. It thicker but said maple too

 

[normanaj]

Solid or veneer as @chopsaw asked? This can make a difference in how you want to approach it.

Maple takes stain pretty evenly.Not being all that porous it doesn't absorb stain to deeply say compared to a softer pine which if not prepped properly can come out looking like ass when stained.

What look are you going for? The engraving/lettering darker or lighter than surrounding area? If engraving first and then staining the lettering will be darker than the surrounding surface regardless.If you want it lighter which can be a little more involved that can still be easily done too.

How will it be engraved? My wife does a lot of engraving with burning tools and that in itself makes for dark lines whereas mechanical engraving doesn't until stain is applied.

 

[normanaj]

That's a bit tricky though , and you have to be carful that you don't soak up the darker color on the face to the point you can't sand it out .

A nice little trick there is to take a little de-waxed shellac (Sealcoat) and hit the surrounding area. When done with the lettering wipe off the excess stain and then take some denatured alcohol give the area a few wipes to remove most of the shellac then re-sand the entire surface.

And on soft woods like pine I like to take a 50/50 - 25/75 mix of the Sealcoat/denatured and do the whole surface and then give a light/moderate sand. At that point the wood takes the stain so much more evenly. But that's kind out of the scope for what the OP will be doing and a little over info on my part.

 

[chopsaw]

nice little trick

Thanks . I'll put that in the trick bag . I'm always open to experience . I knew you would know , and actually had you tagged , but I geuss when I mispelled to many words and started over it got erased . Lol .

 

[zwiller]

The stain is just going to be a dark color

Guys have you covered. I would advise against using a dark stain. Using dark stains to try a fake dark hardwood looks VERY amateurish. Yeah I did it when I started too but regret it. Best to stick close to the natural wood tone or a little darker. If dead set on still doing it, water based deck stain works MUCH better than Minwax oil. The pros use analine dyes to do it but that's another discussion. Rattle can spray lacquer top coat for small stuff like that.