Making mahogany darker

[AcroSteve]

Other than stain, anybody know how to do it? I just don't know if I can get a satisfactory match with stain.

I was thinking sunlight, like you can with cherry, but, as far as I know, mahogany will lighten due to exposure to sunlight over time. However, the exterior of this particular board is much darker than the planed surface. All of my other boards have constant color throughout.

I have some from different sources that I want to try to match.

Any body familiar with fuming with ammonia and mahogany?

[daveverdo]

Try posting your question here. These guys are to woodworking, what reefcentral is to reefers.

http://dgroups.woodmagazine.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=woodrefinishing

Dave

[WarrenG]

You can mix two different colors of stain. I did this to get the exact color that I wanted for the mahogany in my house.

And there are several different kinds of mahagony-some darker than others.

[AcroSteve]

I needed just one piece to finish this projet and had a choice between "genuine" and African. The genuine looked good in the store, but when I machined it, it changed. The African never was even close.

Back when I got my other mahogany a few years ago, I remember it a Hondouras. It also matches the 1/4" ply I have.

Thanks for the link, btw

[douggiestyle]

a good paint store wil do a stain match and take the wood type into consideration.

i did it for oak flooring, and it was a pittsburgh paints store.

[BeanAnimal]

You may need to look into using a wood dye prior to staining. Analine dyes are available online or at woodcraft or rockler (local or online). If you have a local woodcraft (there is one here in pittsburgh) then a visit would be best... with the piece and the one you need to match.

Jackson Ohio? Is that not right outside of athens? I lived in athens as a child... then over the years have spent hundreds of hours underground at the AEP Meigs mines (now closed). If it is Jackson that I am thinking of... ther is a little family resteraunt near the interstate. They server like 400,000 different turkey dishes! I could not figure out why until I found out that they own a turkey farm! In any case that place has THE BEST COFFEE I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!

Bean

[AcroSteve]

Yep. That's the place. Lewis' family restaurant. They still have the turkey farm, but sold the restaurant to Bennigan's.

I have some dye that I considered using on a cherry hutch I built, but did not like the looks of it on the wood, wo I went with natural. I guess that's why I am hesitant to consider it.

I guess I just need to get over the fact that I want it natural with only a poly finish. I suppose a little stain won't hurt.

[douggiestyle]

mahogany darkens with uv exposure.


Athens... doing the court street shuffle during halloween.
good times

[BeanAnimal]

I spent many a night leaning on the bar at the OU Inn (good old Coby was the bartender as long as I can remember).... that is where I stayed most of the time when I worked at Meigs... but sometimes in Jackson. Athens... hrm souvlaki... more garlic than ANYBODY knows what to do with.

When I was a kid I lived at 101 Wonder Hills drive in Athens... the road was moved since then because of hill erosion. Dad used to play softball for "larrys dog house" and I went to k-2 at the old school and watched them build the interstate out the window.


Kinda small world I guess.

Steve... do me a favor and find out what freakin kind of coffee those folks serve. I swear to you it is the best tasting stuff I ever had! I think they have one of those freeze dried instant brew kinda deals...

The dye will look a bit differnet with a hint of stain and poly over it. You are going to have to do a LOT of experimentation.

[douggiestyle]

used to go to athens to visit friends at ou. that was when the drinking age was 18. get these killer buritos on the sidewalk. gave you the hot pepper squirts.

[MayoBoy]

Mahogany does have a high tannin content which is what reacts with ammonia to darken wood ( Here's (http://musial.ws/fuming.htm) a quick tutorial from my website. I've been doing some further experimenting and am getting decent results with regular household ammonia but that was in the summertime and temperature does play a factor - I never got around to updating the website after 7 hours. After about 12 hours, they caught up to each other. The household never got darker than the 14 hour mark while the 26% stuff took it almost to black).

It would be worth a try. Do some scrap tests on freshly milled wood and remember that the color will darken with exposure to light so don't go for a perfect match with just the ammonia.

[AcroSteve]

Funny, I posted on the site daveverdo suggested and got a pretty good reply. However, that guy said there are no tannins in mahogany.

So, what gives?

[radone]

Found this for you Steve


Honduras Mahogany
Color:
Mahogany varies considerably in color maturing into a deep rich red or brown color with age. Very consistent colors, but will have small worm holes.
Grain:
The grain is straight to wavy, or curly.
Texture:
The texture is fine or medium to course, and uniform.
Weathering Properties:
Mahogany is reported to have very good weathering qualities which make a very good choice for doors.
Staining:
The wood takes stain well. Painting The wood is reported to take paint or enamel very well. A primer designed to eliminate tannin (red) bleed out is recommended.

Good Luck

[MayoBoy]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7963243&dopt=Abstract

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannic_acid

http://www.woodfinishsupply.com/Tannin.html

[radone]

Here's another

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannic_acid

[radone]

Doh:rolleyes:

[AcroSteve]

Now all I need is some high concentration amonia.

Radone, you got any?

[radone]

99.9% good enough, how much do you need

[MayoBoy]

You can use regular old household ammonia - in fact, if you don't know how fast it will react, you're probably better off using it.

[AcroSteve]

I''l give it a try.

[AcroSteve]

Here is what I started with.

The piece on the left is my old stock, and on the right is the newly machined piece. They are sitting on the new board I recently purchased. From which, I cut the new piece of trim. As you can see, the older piece has dark color throughout, the surface on the left of this piece was machined several years ago, and the angle was done about a week ago.

Taken with a flash.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN3465.jpg

Here is the result of 2 hours fuming. I am concerned it will stay too red, but we shall see.
With flash
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN3467.jpg

Without.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN3468.jpg

[AcroSteve]

Here is what I am working on. With the exception of the one new board above, I am throwing it together with "scraps" I already have.
Lights and all, I am figuring about 30lbs or so.

This is the framework. Oak, ash and a little hickory, I think.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN4903.jpg

Detail of the front corner.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN4904.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN4908.jpg

And a shot of the door, for a teaser of the mahogany skin.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN5007.jpg

[BeanAnimal]

Looks nice Steve...

Is that a left tilt unisaw under there :)

Bean

[douggiestyle]

its hard to say if you will be fine or not with the color. as im sure you know that is the thing about wood. i will usualy teel people to go with the same as they had originally. and wait for it to catch up. but im usually looking at 200 s/f or more and thats alot of planks. there is bound to be a lot of variance except in the darkest stains
btw, its looks good. make sure you post pics of the finished product

[MayoBoy]

Nice dovetails. Put that fumed scrap under your lights and see if the UV darkens it up any.

[AcroSteve]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8529672#post8529672 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal

Is that a left tilt unisaw under there :)

Unfortunately, it is a right tilt. But the motor does not stick out on the left, it is tucked away under the table, so that part is good.


Due to a busy schedule, I left the piece in for 14 hours. Pretty close to what I had after 2 hours. I figure it just penetrated deeper over time. However, it is still pretty red.

I might try some stain later.

[lucifersreef]

I am an apprentice cabinetmaker and I know the polishers at the workshop regularly use toners to colourmatch timbers

[lucifersreef]

i may be able to get some info on these toners tomorrow

[AcroSteve]

Well, I tried some different stains and nothing was looking right. So I put a piece under my canopy for a few days to accelerate the UV exposure. Looked good enough to just leave the wood alone.


Here are some pics. I still have to paint the inside and finish the outside, but the construction is done. VHO's still need installed and wired too.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/Canopy/DSCN3501.jpg

The end panel is held on by several magnets
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/Canopy/DSCN3498.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/Canopy/DSCN3497.jpg

Close up of the detail on the crown molding.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/Canopy/DSCN3508.jpg



Enjoy.

[AcroSteve]

Mostly finished!!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/DSCN3546.jpg

Those with a very keen eye may notice a slight warpage problem I must tackle. But that will come after the 1st of the year - maybe