Finishing African Mahogany problem

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I built a table top out of African Mahogany. I sanded the top starting at 80 grid and going to 220 grid. I applied no stain, but did apply furniture oil to bring out the great color of Mahogany. I than applied three coats of poly sanding with 220 grid between coats. The final coat was sanded with 320 grid. I then applied Minwax wax. In retrospect this was probably a mistake according to an article in FWW magazine. The top now has an area about 3 inches across that is dull and I can't buff it out by hand. Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, DKT
 
I built a table top out of African Mahogany. I sanded the top starting at 80 grid and going to 220 grid. I applied no stain, but did apply furniture oil to bring out the great color of Mahogany. I than applied three coats of poly sanding with 220 grid between coats. The final coat was sanded with 320 grid. I then applied Minwax wax. In retrospect this was probably a mistake according to an article in FWW magazine. The top now has an area about 3 inches across that is dull and I can't buff it out by hand. Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, DKT

When you say you applied "furniture oil" what was it exactly? In any case, I would remove the wax you applied. You could wipe down with mineral spirits, and do a light sanding, but, it may depend on what "oil" you used.


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When you say you applied "furniture oil" what was it exactly? In any case, I would remove the wax you applied. You could wipe down with mineral spirits, and do a light sanding, but, it may depend on what "oil" you used.

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I used Gillespie "Lemon Oil Furniture Treatment" it "contains no wax or silicones". The top sat in our house for several month (not by choice) so the oil must have been dry.

DKT
 
I'm not sure, but I don't think lemon oil ever fully "dries". I believe it's a non-hardening oil. On the other hand, I'm not sure it's causing the roblem you're seeing because the problem is isolated to just the one area.
 
I think "Lemon Oil" is plain mineral oil with lemon scent added. Don't see how it will ever dry.

You can purchase true lemon oil, but it's expensive. I think you're right though...a lot of "lemon oil" furniture treatment doesn't have much more than the scent in common with lemon oil.


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The lemon oil products like Gellespie are for cleaning and conditioning finished furniture so using prior to your topcoat was probably a boo-boo. The good news is that it does not seem to be your issue as the problem is isolated to a particular area. Poly, by nature, is not something that "buffs out". It is soft/tough and formulated to resist abrasion.

I think I am hearing you say that even if you recoat the area, it remains dull(?). A picture would tell a thousand words on this as it could be that you are using a gloss finish and have a contaminant in the area. You are using a satin finish and did not stir frequently during application and you got a brush full of concentrated solids that left a streak of "dull" in the finish. Really too many ways to guess about this. How about a picture?
 
I think I am hearing you say that even if you recoat the area, it remains dull(?). A picture would tell a thousand words on this as it could be that you are using a gloss finish and have a contaminant in the area. You are using a satin finish and did not stir frequently during application and you got a brush full of concentrated solids that left a streak of "dull" in the finish. Really too many ways to guess about this. How about a picture?

Thank you for your reply that makes any sense to me at all. I'll try getting a picture, it might not be possible. The top is actually part of a Sideboard I built and where it has been put you only see the flaw when the light shines on the top and you have to look at it just right. Again, I'll try to take a picture and post it here. The brush full of concentrate sounds right to me, I used somewhat old varnish.

Thank You, DKT
 
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