I am building a surround for a vintage stereo receiver. It will be inlaid dovetail construction (Incra Cornerpost Double Dovetail) and will also have inlaid laminate strips on the top and sides. It will be constructed of birdseye maple with contrasting wood for the trim in the dovetails. The laminate strips will be constructed of 1/16" strips of birdseye with alternating strips of varying widths made from the contrasting wood.
I picked up some padauk that I wanted to use for the contrasting wood pieces before doing too much research on the species as I wanted something unique. As I am researching it, however, I am seeing a lot of threads about mixing padauk with light woods as it tends to bleed when finishing, especially with the oils I would typically use to make the birdseye pop. I don't think there's any way to finish the padauk separately before assembly. Obviously you can't do that on the laminates as they need to be trimmed to the appropriate thickness and sanded flush once inlaid. You can't really pre-finish the dovetail trim pieces either as they need to get glued in to the joint on one side and then sanded flush before cutting the dovetails on the other side.
I'd really like to use the padauk if I can, but I don't want to risk bleeding and ruining the maple in the laminate or the dovetails. So any ideas on finishing the piece in a manner that controls bleeding and still makes the birdseye pop? Or alternatively, any other ideas for trim woods that are workable for dovetails and are not your standard dark browns (walnut etc.)?
Thanks.
I picked up some padauk that I wanted to use for the contrasting wood pieces before doing too much research on the species as I wanted something unique. As I am researching it, however, I am seeing a lot of threads about mixing padauk with light woods as it tends to bleed when finishing, especially with the oils I would typically use to make the birdseye pop. I don't think there's any way to finish the padauk separately before assembly. Obviously you can't do that on the laminates as they need to be trimmed to the appropriate thickness and sanded flush once inlaid. You can't really pre-finish the dovetail trim pieces either as they need to get glued in to the joint on one side and then sanded flush before cutting the dovetails on the other side.
I'd really like to use the padauk if I can, but I don't want to risk bleeding and ruining the maple in the laminate or the dovetails. So any ideas on finishing the piece in a manner that controls bleeding and still makes the birdseye pop? Or alternatively, any other ideas for trim woods that are workable for dovetails and are not your standard dark browns (walnut etc.)?
Thanks.