norson,
The attached pics are silver maple sticks. The one on left has had nothing done to it and is in the photo for comparison. The one on the right the bark was left on the stick and sanded smooth down to 150 grit.
Two coats of boiled linseed oil darkened it up nicely. I will lightly sand to 220 grit and apply another coat of linseed oil. Then the stick will get a carving of some sort or another and will get a finish of two coats of satin spar polyurethane.
The second pic is a silver maple stick that was sanded to 220 grit with the bark left on, with 2 coats of boiled linseed oil and then 2 coats of satin spar polyurethane. The bear topper is carved from black cherry.
I think silver maple makes a great looking stick with the bark left on and sanded down. It takes the oil well and makes for very unique colors in the stick.
The final pic is silver maple de barked and sanded to 220 grit. The stick has been stained with a dark walnut to achieve some color. If you de bark maple and stain it is strongly advised to apply a pre stain conditioner or use a gel stain to avoid blotchy results. Even with stain conditioner the knots on this stick are extremely dark and a little "blotchy". This stick is still in the construction phase.
Hope this info helps a bit.
Mark
