Project Finished in "Red Mahogany"

I just finished a blanket chest for a client, and wanted to share photos to invite some feedback on the finish. It's made of birch and maple, and I have attempted to recreate the commercial red mahogany finish:

http://metadigitalworks.com/tmp/chest2.jpg

http://metadigitalworks.com/tmp/chest1e.jpg

If anyone is interested, I posted an overview of my finish schedule at my web site.
Thanks!

Stephen-

Beautiful job. And thanks for sharing - that was a great write up.

WOW! :D It looks pretty darn nice to me. (Beautiful and rich!) I think you must have gotten the color you wanted and your woodworking is first class. I have to admit I have not seen birch or maple taken to that color before - it looks, at first glance, like high end (very high end) commercially finished cherry or mahogony furniture. I think I understand why you did it - with that close grain in birch and maple,you do not have to do any filling or smooting like you may have to do in mahagony and it still looks great.

I like to work with birch and you may have inspired me to make a butler's table out of it based upon your color here - can you imagine it with shiny brass?

Thanks for showing this!!

Tom

I checked out Stephen's "how-to" link, and this is done all in water-based finishes. Definitely worth a read. Thanks for the inspiration, Stephen!

:o Wow! Thanks for all the great feedback, guys!

Thomas, if you ever get a chance, try the General Finishes 'vintage cherry' dye on birch - it comes very close to the look of a cherry board with a solvent finish on it...that warm medium brown with the amber shimmer.

I agree with Thomas... WOW!

I'm totally inspired!! Love the color and depth of the birch and that's a good reference article.

Also, thanks for the tip on the GF cherry dye!! Just luv the glow of cherry you're describing! :D

Thanks for sharing!

Absolutely Stunning finish! Thanks

Beautiful work, Stephen!

Very nice Stephen! Having a project end up looking like that using (fairly) inexpensive materials is a real testament to the quality of your work!