Water stain in unfinished Wenge

[Richard Zimmerman]

I have a 8/4 slab of Wenge that was destined to be made into legs for a table. Unfortunately I discovered that the wood had gotten wet and now there are water stains in the unfinished slab. I have tried applying mineral spirits and denatured alcohol to see if that would improve the appearance of the wood. While the wood looked fine without evidence of the stains when wet with the two liquids, the stains were still there when the liquids evaporated/dried. Any suggestions how to get rid of those stains? If not any recommendations for finishing or sealing the Wenge? Oil based product? Water based? Dewaxed shellac (seal coat) or Arm-R-Seal?

Thanks
Richard

[Lee Schierer]

Sometimes you can wet the wood with water and the stain will go away. Wet the entire surface and scrub with a soft cloth and let it dry. Try distilled water so you don't add any more minerals to the surface. You might need to do this several times.

[Prashun Patel]

How the piece looks wet with ms or alcohol is close to how it will look when finished finally.

Wenge is good here, because it practically turns black when wet.

Also, have you sanded or planed the surface to see how deep the water stains go?