Bringing out grain in BB.

[Capt Weasel]

I've been using Danish oil on my 1/8"BB portraits as a finish. Does a pretty good job of bringing out the grain,BUT. I have a piece in a bar and ya' can't even tell its wood and some people that look at my "portfolio" can't tell either. I know the bar piece is probably just the lighting.
Is there anything else that will bring out the grain better than Danish oil? I usually do 2 coats but I think 1 coat will be better cause it brings it out and the second coat kinda dulls it. Whatcha' think?

[ozarkhillbilly]

I know what you mean on using BB, And on those projects I want the grain to pop thru, I like to use a pecan stain. It highlights the darker grain and gives the rest of the picture a warm wood glow.

[Capt Weasel]

I haven't used any kind of stain because I was afraid it would darken it up to much and take away from the portrait itself. Thats why I use the Danish. But, if a particular stain or "flavor" would work better I'm all ears and game to give it a whirl. Is that a Minwax flavor or something else?

[Jediscroller]

To be honest, if I want something to show good grain, I'll use something other than Baltic birch. Staining does help some, but not enough for my tastes. Oak ply has good grain in it (if you want to stick to plywood) plus a whole bunch of others. My local lumberyard carries about 20 different HVHC plies, most down to 1/4".

[MacS]

Darker Grains

Here, is another option you might want to try.

Its on the Internet.

http://www.cwbmagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=8B8139CAF1B44057A08A43CDAA885CA5&tier=4&id=D863406EC8854A35B3E2F06C1926E996

I hope this works.

[Mick Walker]

Capt Weasel, how about a light coat of BLO? Will take a few days to dry before applying a finish. Try it on a scrap.

[Capt Weasel]

I use BB because I heard it was the only plywood didn't have any voids. I've had some oak ply that had voids but maybe it was where I got it from that made the difference. Does it? Is BB the only one without voids?

[ozarkhillbilly]

I buy most of my wood that I use for portraits rather it be BB or oak thru Sloan's, both type's are void free.

[lucky788scroller]

finnish birch has no voids typically, and it does have a better grain configuration. dale

[Jediscroller]

Without writing a disertation on plywood grading, typically, any HVHC (hardwood veneer, hardwood core) plywood will have no voids. Appleply (tradename for a maply ply) is a very nice wood and I've seen dozens of species of plywoods that are HVHC (you will pay for it though, much more than finnish or baltic birch). As a rule, the big box stores do not carry HVHC plywood (if ya wanna have some fun, ask them and watch them get real confused looks on their faces).

The primary differences between Finnish and Baltic birch plywoods are that Finnish will be good on 2 sides (good if you're doing a piece where both sides will be visible) and that Finnish is exterior grade.