Mahogany finish help requested

i agree with you on the grain enhancement,, the solids fall into the depressions showing up the low spots and the the highs dont hang on to i t, that is why if you sand to far up the grits you can make it so it doesnt show much color at all with a pigmented stain..:) i think what you have shows signs of hiving the glimmer we all like rennie no need to buy the higher dollar wood in my opinion..
 
I'm back to square one - I took another look and did not like the way the alcohol only dye tended to darken some spots too much - the dark brown circles in the pic. Did a few more samples with the dye/shellac combo and, no circles! So, now I'm testing with just the brown dye mix, no green. There is not much red in my wood so I may not have to counter it.

still testing.................
 
Hi Rennie<
My 2c-worth if you're still playing around & want to check out something else.
After more experimenting than I care to think about, I decided on Rubio Monocoat, a voc-free oil that won't take more than one coat. That followed by Liberon paste wax. Compared to the wealth of talent here I'm just a novice, and I learned the hard way, but I love the result I get from that combo. The key is in the prep - I usually sand down to 600 or 1000 before wiping on the oil, then depending on the type of wood I may use 1000 grit to lightly rub it in.

I just use the normal 'pure' stuff, which allows the wood to darken a little with age, but I think you can get it with UV blocker too if you like the finished shade & don't want it darken. The pic below was taken a few days after it had the finishing done.
Best

Mahogany.jpg
 
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