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I am making a chess board with a case and drawer below to hold the pieces for my son. The plan I am using comes from an old Woodsmith magazine article. The checkerboard is walnut and maple. The case is walnut. I have not made anything with walnut before so I am looking for suggestions to make it look nice. I have done a lot of things in cherry and use ruby or garnet shellac a lot for coloring. I have dabbled a little in some transtint. I am mostly looking to color the case and boarder. I am still undecided about the board. I might prefinish the walnut squares before gluing then coat the whole top with blonde shellac to give the maple grain some life with out shifting the maple color too much. I will probably use a water borne clear to finish.
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I really like garnet shellac on walnut, but not so much on maple. I usually get a color shift on maple toward gold, like the tables below. I also like a coat of BLO on walnut, it gives it a very dark appearance that sytays after you top coat it with something appropriate. BLO is nice on maple as well (to me) but it will yellow over time. Even so, I think coating the piece with BLO and then top coat with either a good waterborne (be sure to let the BLO dry several days, maybe even a week) or an oil based varnish (one day would be enough dry time to top coat with varnish) would be my choice. The table top was my first attempt at french polish, I used garnet shellac. The center is bubinga, the frame is maple.
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I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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Without a doubt, Watco Danish oil or some other in the grain finish. No plastic look and the texture of the wood is allowed to show. It wears remarkably well. I have a walnut dining room table and buffet that are over 30 years old with the original finish and still look great. That is what I use on my Maloof rocking chairs. Nothing looks better on walnut. Ken
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For a chessboard I'd look at either a pre-cat lacquer or high performance waterbourne poly for the best wear resistance. I expect the maple will yellow over time no matter what finish is used so I wouldn't think too much over lacquer yellowing over time compared to WB poly.
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