"Best" mahogany finish

[Matt Meiser]

I've successfully talked my brother into not dying the buffet but just going with an oil finish and letting it darken naturally over time. What is going to give me the best results? I've come up with a few possibilities:

• BLO
• BLO/Poly/Mineral Spirits "Witches Brew"
• Seal-A-Cell/Arm-R-Seal (the "David Marks" finish)
• Minwax Mahogany stain followed with several coats of Minwax Polyurethane

[Jim Becker]

BLO, shellac sealer and the top coat of your choice. The "color" of shellac flakes you choose will depend upon the particular mahogany you use. Honduras that is color matched is not as "blond" as some other varieties of things called mahogany. Think of the shellac as a toner in addition to being a sealer.

But you can also use a chemical to uniformly darken the mahogany. Check out Alan Turner's recent Newport project in the Neader forum for that look. Awesome, both in photos and in person.

[Chris Barton]

Just a heads up here, mahogany doesn't darken over time. Quite the opposite in fact, it gets lighter...

Chris

[Donnie Raines]

Just a heads up here, mahogany doesn't darken over time. Quite the opposite in fact, it gets lighter...

Chris

I was going to point that out as well.

I like to apply a mahogany danish oil to deepen the reddish color and also even out the color. I seal that with de-waxed shellac and top coat as needed. I like to use a resin varnish with Mahogany.

[Matt Meiser]

Hmm. Maybe the original plan for Transtint Brown Mahogany dye will be best. I was going to follow that with the witches brew under the original plan.

[Doug Shepard]

You might also want to factor in some grain filler and sanding back before putting on the finish. I went without it on a small mahog table some time back and have always regretted not using some. It's not really a visible problem, but even though the table feels smooth you can feel the grain in some places if you run your fingernail over it slowly. I thought the finish and sanding in between coats would give me enough pore filling, but it just didn't work out that way. Mahogany isn't as bad as red oak, but getting a really smooth finish isn't as easy as with cherry or maple for instance.

[Cecil Arnold]

I'm going to try to post three pictures, all of Honduran mahogany tables with different finishes. The first is sanded, filled with grain filler, and finished with a wiping varnish. The second is shot with garner shellac, then coated with three coats of varnish. The final is another table, same style, that has a coat of super blond shellac followed by several coats of varnish. IMHO, the filled and finished with wiping varnish was more work than it was worth for the finish. The second table with garnet really let the grain pop and with three coats of minwax poly is about as slick as you can find. Unfortunately the light is not good on this pic. The final is only to give an indication of a three year old mahogany table without anything but shellac. I think Jim is right, but you might want to add a coat of dewaxed garnet shellac over the BLO.Oh, and a stelth golat, the bowl on the third table is a piece of cherry I got from creeker John Hart.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Just a heads up here, mahogany doesn't darken over time. Quite the opposite in fact, it gets lighter...

Chris

Someone needs to explain that to all the Honduras mahogany I've worked with over the years...because it sure did get darker, very much like cherry but to a lesser drgree.

KC

[Donnie Raines]

Someone needs to explain that to all the Honduras mahogany I've worked with over the years...because it sure did get darker, very much like cherry but to a lesser drgree.

KC

Not sure how to 'splain that one. All the mahogany I have used and left "natural" in color has either stayed close to the same color or has lighten. Much like walnut does....not sure what to say.

Either way, if an additional color is added the lightening of the wood is a mute point....I guess

[Mark Singer]

Mahogany when sawn is as light as it wil get! Ultraviolet light (sunlight) naturally darkens the wood as Kirk pointed out. It will get darker and richer over time....the character will become more prominent over time as well. Walnut is the opposite it lightens over time and becomes more amber. Jatoba darkens, wenge lightens, Paduk turns brown , darkens and loses its red color.

I usuall use a tung oil finish on mahogany.....I love te natural color of the wood as it darkens.

[Donnie Raines]

Mahogany when sawn is as light as it wil get! Ultraviolet light (sunlight) naturally darkens the wood as Kirk pointed out. It will get darker and richer over time....the character will become more prominent over time as well. Walnut is the opposite it lightens over time and becomes more amber. Jatoba darkens, wenge lightens, Paduk turns brown , darkens and loses its red color.

I usuall use a tung oil finish on mahogany.....I love te natural color of the wood as it darkens.

My experience has been diffrent, and it appears that the gent above has had the same experience as myself. By no means do I wish to sound argumentative, but the mahogany I have used has, indeed, become lighter over time. Again, that is on the material where a no pigment was added.

[Jim Hinze]

Matt,

Potassium Dichromate will give a nice even darker tone to the mahagony, then you can top it with whatever you'd like. David Marks uses Potassium Dichromate for most of his mahagony pieces then tops with seal-a-cell. Here's a link to some more info from his website:

Potassium Dichromate

[Mark Singer]

Here are some pics of mahogany as subjected to natural light.....newly finished cabinet oil finish and doors with oil finish which are 4 years old

[Donnie Raines]

Here are some pics of mahogany as subjected to natural light.....newly finished cabinet oil finish and doors with oil finish which are 4 years old

Hard to tell much from the photos....but I am not suggesting that you are in error. I am simply stating that, in my experience, there has been change in color toward the lighter side. Again, no pigment added and simply a pre cat lacquer film finish. I suepct the oil may be the "issue", for the projects I applied oil to have change little if any through the years.

Smile...it's Friday......

[Mark Singer]

Donnie,

I found this on the internet and it is consistent with my experience...


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Hard to tell much from the photos....but I am not suggesting that you are in error. I am simply stating that, in my experience, there has been change in color toward the lighter side. Again, no pigment added and simply a pre cat lacquer film finish. I suepct the oil may be the "issue", for the projects I applied oil to have change little if any through the years.

Smile...it's Friday......