Finishing but keeping the figuring?

I think 'figuring' is the right word.
How do I finish some timber bu retain the difference in colour between light and dark grain?
I'm a DIY bloke and when I finish stuff, I often use Osmo hardwax oil. I like the finish it gives.
What I find, though, is that when I finish a timber where I want the contrast in the grain to stand out, it tends to darken the lighter areas so the whole piece takes on a more uniform colour i.e. I lose the contrast in the grain.
Is there a finish can I use where the timber will be protected but the lighter grain won' be darkened?

I bet this gets asked often, but I did a search (honest) and couldn't find anything.

Thanks, Scott.

I find a Danish oil does good on highlighting the natural color of the wood.

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Thanks. I'll give it a go.

Uncoloured nitro or acrilic Laquer, white or blond shelac.

Pretty much ALL oil bassed finishes will have a yellow tinge in their natural state, the manufacturers tend to add brown colour to cover the yellow.

cheers

Thanks Soundman. I found some Danish oil and you are right, it is tinted brown. I did a test and on the figured wood it darkened the light bits and made them close in colour to the dark bits i.e. I lost the contrast. I'll go to Bunnings and see if they have some uncoloured acrylic laquer.
I'll do some tests and post photos.

Shellac is widely considered to be the finish of choice for really bringing out the contrast in grain. Often shellac tends to give pieces an orangish glow that one may find characteristic of older, antique furniture.

Keep in mind, however, that many woods will darken over time due to oxidation regardless of finish used, which leads to a more uniform coloring.

Which woods do you often use?

Cheers,
Luke

I have decided to finally make something out of the stuff that has been hanging around for years. The bits with the nice grain are some cedar (old skirting boards from a house I renovated in the 90) and some old oregon. I want a matt finish.

I'm thinking that a blonde shellac would make the least difference to the colour - at the expense of needing some know-how on how to apply it (I've never tried shellac, it's on the to-do list once I have that thing called "time").

I used Hard Burnishing oil on a furniture piece I made a while ago and while it did add colour to the timber, it appeared to add it evenly, so dark got darker as well as the lights - just for something different. It comes out as matte through to satin as you want, just gotta sand to crazy higher grit numbers to get it to shine more.

Hard burnishing oil will also bring out the true colours.

I can't comment on Oregon, but I have used shellac on some Cedar (Presumably you meant AUS Red Cedar) in the past and it works great.

There are a lot of ways to apply Shellac, so it's worth doing some research if you decide to go that route.

Also, look into its durability qualities. It's easy to repair, but also easy to damage.

If you haven't decided on a finish yet Scottbr, you may want to consider using the Kunos natural oil sealer. Whilst it will deepen the darker timbers, it will still keep the lighter ones lighter to the rest. It will really highlight the actual colour and markings of the timber and can quiet easily be touched up at any stage later on. At least it is a natural product too.
Even for next time, you can obtain a sample pot of the various products mentioned and try them on sample pieces of timber. That is the only way you can decide on the result. Remember the sanding grit, light, species etc has an affect on the outcome too.
Good luck with it all.

As Luke says, shellac can be easy to damage, especially when it is "young". However, UBeaut's Hard Shellac is much tougher and is heat and moisture resistant once it has set ("cross-linked"). Any finish will change the colour of timber to some extent but the white shellacs (like Hard Shellac) will create the least change I have seen, while bringing out the figure very well.

Everyone has their favourite finish, and many of them do a good job, so you just have to do some tests to see what you like.

Shellac is easy to apply with a rubber (wad of cotton wadding/wool wrapped in a clean-lint-free cotton cloth) the secret is to keep the rubber fairly dry as if it is wet it leaves runs of liquid shellac that are unsightly and take a long time to dry. Lots of thin coats create the most transparent finish, and because the carrier is metho the thin coats dry quickly.