Curly maple and dye

Highlighting the wood grain

Sometimes, a dilute dye works better than a concentrated dye; not diluting it sufficiently could result in extreme contrast like I have on this box lid:

I am applying Waterlox varnish to the box, including the curly maple; the Waterlox has reduced the contrast quite a bit. However, next time I will mix the Transtint Vintage Maple dye with amber dye; I believe a much more dilute dye will give better color and more subdued mountains and valleys.

— Al Navas