Mahogany finish help requested

Rennie Heuer

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I'm working on a project in mahogany (no pictures, no description, no nothing. When its done, I'll share) :rofl::rofl:

I have yet to decide on a finish process. On the left is redish brown dye followed by early american stain, top-coated with a few coats of spray lacquer. To the right is simply a few coats of dewaxed shellac that would be followed by lacquer. You may assume the lacquer will add some amber to the tone of the wood as well as enhance the 'chatoyance" (sp) if I understand that correctly.

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The left sample does remind me of much of the mahogany I remember as a kid, but I've moved in most of my finishing choices to a more natural finish preference. There will be ebony plugs to consider as well.

Anyone have an opinion? :rofl: Maybe you have another favorite way to finish mahogany?:dunno:
 
if your gonna call it mahogany rennie it needs to be the left one in my opinion,, we have been showed threw the years that mahongny is reddish brown and luan of today is the light colored stuff to get the right picture in the customer mind ,,dont try to reteach them..:)
 
Rennie, my preference would be neither. I agree it needs to be darker rather than lighter, but I tend to take it toward brown rather than red. To get there on a cabinet (below) I built a few years ago, I started with a light mix of TT Green in 1lb shellac as a sealer. The green trended the redness of the mahogany toward brown. Next, I used TT mission brown in 1lb shellac to add a little color without hiding the grain. I also used the brown mix in a detail gun to add shading. After I was satisfied with the color and shading, I topcoated with NC lacquer.

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I prefer the color of the image on the left. The one on the right looks like Philippine Mahogany (Lauan). I like using an alcohol based aniline dye to get that reddish brown appearance.

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have you ever considered some oil, like tung or one of the commercially available finishing oils like waterlox?\

its a cruddy picture, but it gives the general color.
 

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I prefer the color of the image on the left. The one on the right looks like Philippine Mahogany (Lauan). I like using an alcohol based aniline dye to get that reddish brown appearance.

Geesh! That's twice today I've agreed with Mike! :D

A couple drops of green TransTint in your shellac sealer, then use the brown stain.
 
I am but an ant when I look up at the finishing experience shown here. I am paying attention though because I have a grand piano in curly ribbon mahogany that I need to refinish. I have barely begun the stripping process so I will take pictures to document the process. I am going to build a new piano bench of the same material when I find some and practice the finishing on that before attempting the daunting task of staining and lacquering the piano.

I am leaning toward a more reddish color just because I like it. I saw a similar piano in a shop for sale around $35,000-$40,000 ( I can't remember the exact price)

I paid a little over $200 for the piano. The finish is very dark and you can't see the beautiful wood figure until you strip the old crazed finish off.
 
Well i cant consider commenting.Paul you an ant then i am the ants baggage carrier.:)


But Bill that unit you posted was love at first sight for me. That is beautiful imho. Any slight chance you got plans or was it one of those go for it designs of yours. I just like everything about it. Sorry for the hijack Rennie, looking forward to seeing what you got cooking :)

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I started with a light mix of TT Green in 1lb shellac as a sealer. The green trended the redness of the mahogany toward brown. Next, I used TT brown mahogany in 1lb shellac to add a little color without hiding the grain

Can you define light mix? I started out with two drops of dye in 8oz of shellac. Too light. I am now up to 7 drops and I don't know how much further I can go. I am not used to working with dye and I know a little goes a long way.
 
Can you define light mix? I started out with two drops of dye in 8oz of shellac. Too light. I am now up to 7 drops and I don't know how much further I can go. I am not used to working with dye and I know a little goes a long way.

As I recall, I used about 20 drops of TT green in 8oz of shellac. I did as you described and kept testing until I could start to see a slight difference in the tone of the mahogany. I wasn't trying to make the wood green, just counteract the redness a little. Also, I changed my original post after re-reading it. After the green, I used TT mission brown for all of the other toning. I found using TT brown mahogany to be too red when doing some tests on the wood I was using.

Duh on my part - I kept good notes on the finish steps at the time but can't find them now. :doh:
 
... But Bill that unit you posted was love at first sight for me. That is beautiful imho. Any slight chance you got plans or was it one of those go for it designs of yours. I just like everything about it. Sorry for the hijack Rennie, looking forward to seeing what you got cooking.

Thanks, Rob. I drew up the plans using Visio, so it's all 2D. I added basic dimensions to it but I'm bad about working from a drawing like that "live"; i.e., I have my computer close by for reference. I could export a few jpgs of the main details.
 
A thousand years ago, when I was a child, our Craftsman furniture had the warm brown color. For more formal furniture the smooth red finish on mahogany was the norm. These colors for the "relaxed" furniture (Mission, Craftsman, etc.) and the "formal" furniture were still in use long after I graduated with my doc. degree. I have not shopped for furniture for quite some time (because we are very happy with what we have) so I do not know if that color generalization still holds true.

During the early 1950's my office had the formal, red, mahogany furniture. I noticed that the rose that was carved in the top crosspiece of one of the chairs had finish that was getting a bit worn. I got out the bottle of Old English polish that matched the mahogany color and wiped the back of the chair. It looked great. However, I had to wait for a bit before buffing it. So, of course, I forgot and sat in the chair some time later. Even later in the day one of my staff mentioned something about my pristine white dress shirt with the red rose print on the back.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
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OK. Thanks for urging me on into the wild world of dye color!

I tried LOTS of combinations, but dyes alone, even with a topcoat, were leaving me short of where I wanted to be. I just was not getting the 'glimmer' from the mahogany that I wanted.

This, my latest attempt has me closer than ever. It is medium brown TT dye, 80 drops in 8oz of alcohol, followed by Minwax puritan pine stain, with a spray lacquer topcoat. I present my evidence to the jury.:wave:

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Hard to see here, but the light does make the wood shimmer a bit. Not sure if I need to go darker.
 
rennie i have not worked with mahogany in many years but from what i do know from my stain experience is that most pigmented stains will dim the glimmer,, the best way to get glimmer and retain it is use transparent dyes or toners.. in the sealer coat and i saw dave use them in the top coat..
 
rennie i have not worked with mahogany in many years but from what i do know from my stain experience is that most pigmented stains will dim the glimmer,, the best way to get glimmer and retain it is use transparent dyes or toners.. in the sealer coat and i saw dave use them in the top coat..
Well, I recently heard this tidbit of knowledge, "dye enhances the figure, stain enhances the grain". Based on that, and my experience with the white oak where the stain over dye helped to enhance the rays, I thought I'd try this. Every attempt using just dyes fell short and rather dull. Could be my mahogany is just a little plain Jane. :rofl: Maybe I should have sprung for the ribbon or the genuine mahogany.:dunno:
 
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