How To Finish Padauk So That It Doesn’t Bleed Orange
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Padauk wood is a vibrant orange that looks really good as an inlay or a veneer over lighter colored woods. The problem is that the orange pigment tends to bleed when finish is applied to the wood.
If your project is completely made of Padauk, then it is not a problem. However, if you are doing an inlay with a lighter colored wood such as maple the orange bleeding into the maple looks really bad.
So, how do you stop it from bleeding when applying the finish?
1) Get all of the wood dust, including the micro fine wood dust off of the piece. Get all of the sanding and saw dust off of the piece. I like to first brush the large particles off of the piece. Using a shop vac, vacuum off all of the surfaces of the piece. As a final step apply a small amount of mineral spirits on clean cotton rag and wipe down the piece. Always wipe in the direction of the lamination. Don’t wipe across the Padauk to the other wood.
2) Apply a sealer coat of shellac. This will lock the Padauk pigment in and prevent it from bleeding. Sand the sealer coat smooth. The piece is now ready for finishing without bleeding.
Now you might be wondering, if I have sealed all of the surfaces of the piece, how am I going to apply a stain to the other wood in the piece?
Instead of using stain, you can use a glaze. Glazes are colorants that are designed to be applied on top of a sealer. Once the piece has the desired color apply a top coat to lock in the glaze.
Read how to finish Padauk to prevent it from turning brown article.
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