# What finish do you use for Mahogany?



## Cato (May 1, 2009)

I picked up some different woods for some boxes I am making for presents, and for the first time I got a little Mahogany.

What a beautiful reddish color it has. It doesn't look like you would need to do anything exotic to get it to finish out, but I am curious as to what you guys do to it in the finish stage?


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

I sand to 220 and apply a thin coat of dewaxed shellac. I then color a silica based pore filler using oil paints to the color of the wood, apply the pore filler to the mahogany with a plastic spatula, working it into the pores. Let it dry for about an hour, and wipe it off with a cotton rag, across the grain. Sand that gently, and apply a couple of coats of matte wipe on polyurethane, sanding in between each layer, the last few layers I sand at higher grits.

Pain in the tuchus, but ends up with a nice smooth finish that looks like mahogany, but doesn't have the open grain problems.


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## greasemonkeyredneck (Aug 14, 2010)

I second shellac. I simply use Zansser clear shellac. One coat, sand, second coat, sand, keep going until desired sheen is achieved. The shellac brings out the beauty of mahogany like no other finish, in my opinion.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

I use shellac all the time for sealing and finishing. I'll have to play with some scrap cuts of the Mahogany to see what yields the best finish.

Dan I have only used pore filler once and I didn't know enough to color it so it stayed white in the grain. Good thing I tried it on the bottom of a table top first.

Thanks for the responses guys.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

I use Timbermate grain filler [mahogany] and then finish with Blo and wax or Tung Oil Finish and wax. The grain filler really helps achieve that "touchable" finish.


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## bigike (May 25, 2009)

this is a real good question I like it but if anyone who has a reply please post pics of what the wood looks like before and after this would be most helpful to me anyway. THANKS!


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

Ike, I'll try to upload some close-ups, and see if I can find some surfaced Peruvian mahogany to take a picture of for the "before" pictures. My shop is in disarray 'cause I'm building a new one. However, the door panels on these cabinet doors were finished as I described.


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