Staining Mahogany

[Gary Fera]

I am stripping an antique Westinghouse radio that was unfortunately painted. Now that the customer has seen the mahogany veneer uncovered she has requested that the reddish color of the mahogany be reduced.

I am looking for advice on what approach to use to achieve this. Should I use oil based stain or wood dye?

Thank you. I am new here and have been refinishing antiques for 8 years but am still learning.

Gary

[Jim Becker]

If the mahogany is fully and completely stripped of previous finish, you can use either a stain or a dye...or both...depending on the look you want to achieve. I often apply an amber dye to mahogany and similar species like sapele to bring out the warmth before proceeding further. If you want to accentuate the pores, then a pigment stain will need to be a part of your schedule. I suggest you get some mahogany "scrap" that's about the same color as the exposed veneer you have and do some testing to arrive at the finishing schedule for the real project that works for the appearance you want to achieve. And don't forget you have to go to at least one or two coats of your intended clear coat to ascertain the final color because the clears affect that, too.

[Gary Fera]

Jim thank you for the nice advice. A new consideration for me to discuss with the customer will be accentuating the pores.

Gary

[Stan Calow]

I've not done it on mahogany myself, but I understand some green dye (green is opposite of red on color wheel) will kill the red and turn it brown. Can you try in an inconspicuous place?

[John Goodin]

If your client is open to suggestions it might be worth it to show her some pictures of original radios. Maybe she will appreciate restoring it to the “uncolored” finish. I too have heard adding green will tone down the red but have been too chicken to try it.

[Jeff Monson]

Here is an old Philco that I refinished for a customer a couple years ago. A good portion of this radio was mahogany veneer. I'd show the customer some pics of how nice these are with an original finish. This was a simple BLO followed by a topcoat.

[Mel Fulks]

Jeff, I love those Deco radios. That one is obviously proud to be partnered with that electricity stuff. I remember I used to
watch those while I listened. Even as a kid I anticipated TV.

[Phil Mueller]

Very nice restoration, Jeff. I cringed a bit when the OP said the customer wanted to get rid of the red. I just find the natural color stunning...you did your piece proud.

[Gary Fera]

I've not done it on mahogany myself, but I understand some green dye (green is opposite of red on color wheel) will kill the red and turn it brown. Can you try in an inconspicuous place?

I can and will try this in an inconspicuous place. Thanks.

Gary

P.S. I did not get a notification that you and others had commented on my question. There must be a setting that I need to use to activate notifications.

[Gary Fera]

Here is an old Philco that I refinished for a customer a couple years ago. A good portion of this radio was mahogany veneer. I'd show the customer some pics of how nice these are with an original finish. This was a simple BLO followed by a topcoat.

That's the right idea and I had tried that but the customer still wants to pursue the brown staining approach.

Gary