Opinion Wanted

[john whittaker]

I'm building a classic style book case for a young man who just passed his bar exam. This will be a free standing tall unit and I want it to look better than a store bought book shelf. His wood choice is mahogany. Probably will use some 3/4" mahogany ply for the case and boards for the bottom casing, top crown and trim....and adding flutes etc to dress it up.

Question is...I have never used mahogany before (for furniture) and wanted some opinions on finishing and grain filling. If it were a table top I would definitely fill the grain but I'm not sure if a mahogany ply panel used for the side walls or shelves will need filling.

What finish would you put on a project like this? And would you fill the grain?

Thanks

[Chris Baer]

John, I don't know what to tell you about filling the grain I'm not that far along in wood working yet but far as finishing I have sold many of mahogany doors in the past few years. What type of species might help you determin which way you want to go with the stain. For example Brazilian Mahogany and Philipine mahogany, both with beautiful grain paterns but I feal Philipine looks better with a more dark red finish and Brazilian with a mor e medium finish. But it's all personal taste and also what will be in the room with it. If you can find out what type of funiture it will be around and if a dark finish would work with the room and not make it look to small. These are things I always used when I helped people determin the color to go with for their doors. Please posts the picks when you are finished I would love to see what you end with.

[Jamie Buxton]

Filling or not filling the grain is an esthetic choice. Me, I like wood to look like wood, and don't fill the grain.

For finish, I'd use a wipe-on/wipe-off finish like the classic "witch's brew", or the more modern Min-wax Wipe-on Poly. A wipe-on/wipe-off finish leaves enough finish on the wood to protect a bookcase, but doesn't make a thick plastic layer which obscures the wood. Furthermore, it is easy to apply.

[john whittaker]

Thanks for the input. FYI - I will purchase the mahogany from Wall Lumber...the attached is a pic of the 4/4 boards they sell. It is listed as "Genuine Mahogany"...whatever that means. The ply looks similar in color and texture.

I normally prefer leaving the wood a natural color but he would like a slightly darker than natural finish.

I will test finishes before committing to the final brew...but as a starting point wanted to find out what are some of the favorite finishes that SMC folks use on mahogany.

Any insight to your favorite would be appreciated.

[Don Baer]

John,
I would like to suggest that you look at using dies rather then stains. They come in Alchahol and water soluable and in my opinion give a much more controlable way of darkening the wood. I use the water soluable kind. I also would reccomend a water based top coat as they don't yellow.

[tod evans]

john, mahogany will darken some from the freshly milled pinkish color with exposure to uv light, not as noticable as cherry but the color will change. my favorite look for mahogany is a light brown water soluable dye with amber schellac followed by black wax...02 tod

[Steve Schoene]

There are lots of ways to finish mahogany. I do suggest you use solid mahogany for the entire bookcase. Mahogany is quite stable and easy to work with, but it is often difficult to get plywood and solid to match when finishing, in part because the veneer is so thin on the plywood.

I much prefer Honduran mahogany to (S. macrophyla) to Phillipine (better called Meranti or Lauan) because of the much coarser grain and softness of the Meranti.

A combination of dye and pigmented stain or pore filler allows a lot of control over the final appearance. You can establish the overall base color with dye, and then add depth by applying a wash coat of shellac followed by either a pigmented stain or by pore filler tinted to achieve the look you want. Much easier to control if the dye and pigment steps are kept separate. Shellac also makes an excellent topcoat for bookcases. It is hard so that books don't stick too it, nor does it adversely impact bindings. It can be applied quickly and offers all the protection bookcases require.