Staining Mahogany??

[Tatts]

G'day fellas,

I'm pretty much in the novice category in the timber world so, please bear with me and my "beginners" type questions.
I've done a fairly comprehensive search of the board and haven't found any answers to the problems i am having, so i best be asking the experts eh?
Here goes...
I have this gorgeous piece of Brazillian Mahogany that i have plained and sanded to the size and finish i want but i am having heaps of trouble with finding a stain or dye to get it the colour that i want. I am looking to make it a "cherry" or burgundy type red but the commercially available stains, which look grouse on pine look nothing like it on the mahogany,they either make it a darker brown or a horrible pinkish orangey colour, adding to my woes is the grain filler, neutral, which also darkens the timber yet dries white in the grain, obviously affects the stain colour.
I am running out of off cuts to trial the stains and am just about at my wits end, if anyone has any suggestions/experience or solutions to my probs, please help!!

[Sir Stinkalot]

Why oh why ??????

I dont fully understand why you would be using an exotic timber such as Brazilian Mahogany if you wanted it a cherry colour. Why didn't you use cherry in the first place or stain pine?

Ok enough of a lecture and now my lame attempt at answers. You sound like you are going from a dark brown timber to a cherry colour .... The cherry is going to be a lighter colour than the mahogany so it would seem that you would have to bleach the mahogany to get it lighter before applying the cherry stain. Most of the stains in Bunnies and the like are designed to work on lighter timber such as pine so when you apply on a darker timber then the results will also be darker.

I am sorry if I got you off side but I am a firm believer that if you have an exoticish timber with good grain and colour you should use that as a feature and not try and change it into something that its not ..... I would only use stain on pine myself. I have a huge Brazilian Mahogany desk that my grandfather made for me a few years ago and in its natural state it is a very impressive timber.


Stinky.

[Tatts]

Thanks for the welcoming slap in the face Stinky.
I guess i was asking for it.
The why is, coz i did a clear laquer over another bit i had years ago and, frankly, it took a lot away from the character of the wood, it gave it a honey like colour whilst really darkening the grain, the overall contrast was too intense. I've always regretted it.
I've since seen some cherry coloured mahogany pieces that look absolutely stunning, without taking anything away from the natural beauty of the wood ie; the grain doesn't overpower.

Now that we've got that out of the way, how does a bloke go about bleaching the wood??

[behindblueeyes]

Another way to go about it maybe to use a water based clear (such as Aqualac) over the top of the timber - this will retain the colour of the timber, and wont "yellow" it like a solvent based clear can.

At the same time, it is water wash up, quick drying - and more friendly to the environment.

Just another way of looking at it.

[ozwinner]

And in the blue corner, all the way from GGGGGGGGGGGlong.
Its, Ssssssssslaper Stinky.....yeahhh.
His opponent tonight in the red corner, is a new comer all the way from Melbourne, its no other than, Taaaaaatts the stainer......yeeeeaaahhhh.
Sorry guys couldnt help it.
Cheers, Allan

[behindblueeyes]

Does that mean I am the waterboy?

[ozwinner]

Ya could be the ref.
Or the blood moperuper

[Shane Watson]

tatts,

All you need to do is find a base colour which is close to what you want, then get some red, green, yellow coloured stains and add what you want to get the desired colour, obviously regularly testing on the way and the best way to test the colour of the stain is to apply it the same way you intend to then apply a little of the finish you intend to use to give you a true reading of the colour.

You only need to add minute amounts of the primary colours for the base colour to change, so be careful! and most importantly mix more than enough to do the entire job! Its not nice trying to colour match a job just cause you skimped a little on the first batch :eek:

Anyway, thats what us pros do.

Cheers!

[Tatts]

Thanks Shane and Blueeyes, good advice, appreciate your help.

[Sir Stinkalot]

I never intended to start a fight with Tatts ..... I like to wait until they have at least 10 posts under their belts before we start to ....


I would like to extend the hand of friendship to Tatts and welcome him to the board. There are plenty of good questions and answers posted on these boards and it is well worth a reguar visit. Unfortunately I am not one of the posters that contributes to the good posts.



Slappy Stinky

[Tatts]

Not a problem Slappy, errr.......Stinky.

Ukay, now for another dumb question.

After filling the grain i know i should wait around 24 hours before laquering but, how long should i wait (after grain filling) before i stain the timber? I'm sorry, it doesn't say on the can.