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I've built a rustic bookcase with wormy maple. I am trying to get a 2-tone look. I've tested a turkey red dye stain (1 tablespoon powered:1 cup water: 1 cup alcohol) the wormy parts are brighter and background (normal grain) is duller. I kind of like it but overwhelming color for piece. Painted a piece with a 1 over coat of a copper craft paint, then sanded. Ok for a final color, but lost/dulled best of red part.

Should I add a coat of sealer (poly, shellac, etc.) to protect 1st dye coat? I'm intimidated by epoxy on such a large piece (36x24x26 has 2 sides like a room divider base cabinet, the "back" will be in the middle) I'm thinking a copper/verdege look might give it a funky look. How do I calculate how much I need? The wood is super dry (kept inside for yrs) & is REALLY thirsty & wormy parts absorb less o.

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    Hi, welcome to StackExcange. Please take the Tour to familiarise yourself with the way SE works. Your title and the body of the Question seem at odds with each other. Each Question here should be about one tightly focussed thing, ideally with no tacked-on queries — if they're worth asking about deserves its own Question and you're allowed to ask as many as necessary, assuming there are no previous Q&As that already cover the topic (no duplicates allowed here). – Graphus Feb 21 at 2:22
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    I presume you have some spare wood or offcuts of the maple? The only way to know how something like this is going to turn out is to try it — you need to do some testing on your material, of the entire finishing schedule to find out what the final result will look like. One of the main things to know is that all colouring products on wood (and especially dyes stains) dull down significantly once they dry, but the initial vibrant colour is restored somewhat or completely by the clear finish that goes over the top (because even once dried the finish has 'wetted' the surface again). – Graphus Feb 21 at 2:24
  • I agree that it's too many questions in one. Please edit it to focus on one thing at a time. – FreeMan Feb 22 at 17:26

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