I am making a cabinet/furniture with maple plywood. I'd like to seal it and bring out the wood grain but not add any color with a stain. What is the best process to prep and seal sanded maple plywood and get the most natural finish?

Note that I will be adding the maple edgebanding that you apply with an iron.

I have seen many posts that talk about staining plywood but most include a stain. For example I found a post here that says to do this:



According to the post above, I was thinking:
1. Sand with 220 grit
2. Use a wood conditioner (do you have a favorite that I can find at Lowes or HD?)
3. Skip the stain unless needed
4. No need to wait for stain to dry
5. Apply a coat of lacquer sanding sealer and let dry 20 minutes. A lacquer sanding sealer will make a better foundation for a lacquer finish than shellac (once again, do you have a favorite that I can find at Lowes or HD?)
6. Lightly sand the sealer with 220 grit paper and apply a second coat of lacquer sanding sealer.
7. If the sanding sealer appears to coat the wood and is smooth and level sand it with 220 grit paper and put two coats of lacquer on. If it isn't smooth and level repeat step 6, (not sure what the difference between 6 and 7 is here).

If you are going to use any film finish it's unnecessary to sand any finer than 180 grit. Sanding any finer is better suited for an oil finish.

You don't use a wood conditioner unless you are going to use stain. The grain of a maple tree go through the tree in a wavy motion so if you cut straight through it has a lot of end grain in the middle of the board or veneer. You know when you stain something the end grain absorbs more of the stain and gets darker. The wood conditioner seals the end grain so when you apply the stain it stains more uniform.

If you just want to bring out the grain you could use a natural stain without the wood conditioner. Then after the stain dries for an hour or two you could seal the wood. If you don't let the stain dry it can cause a chemical reaction with the finish. The type lacquer most easily found is known as nitrocellulose lacquer. As it ages it yellows altering the appearance of light colored wood. There is a type lacquer called cab acrylic lacquer which would remain clear. It makes it easier if you use a sealer to smooth the finish and topcoat it with lacquer. Lacquer sanding sealer in nitrocellulose and will also yellow. You could use shellac but I would recommend a vinyl sealer. Normally one coat is enough. The rest of your plan looks fine. Get the finish smooth and level with sealer and when it looks good apply lacquer.

 

So we are talking about doing the following:

According to the post above, I was thinking:
1. Sand with 180 grit
2. Use a clear natural stain
3. Use a a vinyl sealer
4. Apply a coat of cab acrylic lacquer

Do you have any brands available at HD or Lowes that you suggest to use for the above stains? I imagine they would all be water based cause you mention not doing an oil finish.

 

So we are talking about doing the following:

According to the post above, I was thinking:
1. Sand with 180 grit
2. Use a clear natural stain
3. Use a a vinyl sealer
4. Apply a coat of cab acrylic lacquer

Do you have any brands available at HD or Lowes that you suggest to use for the above stains? I imagine they would all be water based cause you mention not doing an oil finish.

It would probably take two coats of lacquer but otherwise that is what I would recommend. For a natural stain it wouldn't matter what brand. I don't care for the Minwax brand of stains because they tend to fade but a natural stain wouldn't fade. It would be alright to use an oil based stain because it is absorbed into the wood. The finish over the top is what you don't want to yellow.

 

Be careful with the sanding!

 

I know there isn’t a lot of wood on top. I was just going to do a quick hand sand with a block to remove oils from me handling it.