Finishing mahogany
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- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 8 months ago by Derek Long.
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8 August 2017 at 3:01 pm #314421
Hello, all!
In the next few days, I will be making a straightedge and winding sticks with some mahogany.
When I finally get them ready to finish, I am wondering the best way to go about it and if I will need to order more finish. I have store-bought BLO. Will enough coats of that be sufficient as a base finish? Will it fill the pores sufficiently? I am thinking after a few coats of BLO, I might try my hand at shellac as a top coat or just some type of wax (paste wax or bees wax) These are shop tools–an excellent opportunity to try finishing techniques.
I haven’t seen BLO fill the pores on any mahogany on which I’ve worked, but maybe I’m doing it wrong, or just need more coats? You can use wax to fill the pores, and it is one of the ways they used to do it hundreds of years ago:
In this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtUN8obqB-A former Smithsonian conservator Don Willians shows how wax can be used with a burnisher as a wood finish or as a pore filler. Worth a watch.
9 August 2017 at 7:03 pm #314441Wow! The polissoir looks amazing! I’m getting a straw broom and making one of these. today.
An easy way to fill the pores is to apply the BLO and then sand. The pores will fill up with the mixture of wood dust and oil. When you wipe off the oil do so across the grain, so that the “sludge” will stay in the pores.
I’ve done this on several oak picture frames and it works quite well. Just be careful to keep everything clean. You don’t want dust from other wood species or water (I used a damp cloth before sanding) to creep in there and colour the wood in the pores.
Wesley
10 August 2017 at 12:16 am #314443I bought one of those from Don, and his beeswax too. Works great. I rub the beeswax right on the wood, then polish with the pollisour (the friction heats up the wax and works it into the pores), buff and finish with oil or shellac.
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