# Finishing for newbies - over Mahogany Veneer and MDF



## babarracus (Aug 6, 2013)

On the job, almost all of the finishing work gets subbed out to the painter. I just build things, so this is mostly new to me and there are way too many options…

I have a speaker that's currently half raw mahogany veneer, and half exposed MDF. Current plan is to paint the MDF and based on lack of experience, just poly over everything after that. The stumbling blocks are what's going to work together between painting, filling the grain on the mahogany, and finishing.

Criteria are simple, cheap, durable, fast; in that order.

(If applicable, my compressor is at best marginal for spraying, and I'd have to buy a gun, which would eat into the cheap criterion)


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

Have you found a solution yet? I'd actually have to complete a project before I got to the finishing stage so my experience on that front is pretty limited


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## RonStewart (Jul 18, 2011)

A few years ago, I used mahogany veneer on a pair of speakers. I didn't fill the grain. I used Zar rosewood stain and Old Dad's wipe-on poly to finish them. It turned out well for me. Old Dad's is no longer in business as far as I know, but Arm-R-Seal should work fine.

I really like the Zar stain. It's much thicker than typical stain (but thick like a gel stain). The mahogany took it very well-it was nowhere as difficult as trying to color hard maple or other close-grained wood.

I have some pictures on my web site. They're not the greatest, but are good enough to give a reasonable idea about how the speakers look. Here's one:










There are others on my Ellis Audio 1801F project page.

Ron


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

If you plan to use oil-based poly be careful about the color. The poly will eventually add a strong yellow tint to your project. This is rarely a problem when finishing darker woods but it can be very ugly on some paints - especially lighter colors.


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