Mohagany

[Stoner creek]

 Does anyone out there have any experience with staining Mohagany? I’ve got a project coming up with Mohagany and I can use some recommendations on what dyes/stains to use to get colors. Particularly an English walnut color if possible.
 Talk to me!!!!
W

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Wayne, I am familiar with two kinds of mahogany that are sold by hardwood dealers in North America, ie:  Philppian and Honduras.
The former is a soft open grained light coloured pinkish wood, and the latter, a hard dense richly hued heavy wood.  The Honduras mahogany turns a very rich reddish brown colour when oiled.  The Philippian wood will not make a good gun stock.  It seems to me that JP Beck at least once built a longrifle stocked with Honduras mahogany.  I obviously don't know how to spell Philippian...spell checker doesn't help either.

[Scota4570]

I used apparent mahogany for an experimental ML with an unique lock.  The wood was a dark red brown color.  There was no figure.  When working it I noticed that it wanted to split along the grain.  It was also very rough when cut across the grain.  IT was a bit like very low grade black walnut but not as strong.   I do not trust it to hold together long term from recoil.  Maybe good mahogany is a different thing.  Maybe it was just a dark piece of Phillipine mahogany? I'd use something else if I had it to do over. 

Given the hours it takes to make a stock skimping on wood is not appealing to me anymore. 

[Jim Kibler]

This mahogany Wayne has is Honduran or "genuine" mahogany.

[smart dog]

Hi Wayne,
The mahogany of choice during the 18th century was Cuban mahogany (Swietenia mahogani), which was logged almost to extinction.  Honduran mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is a pretty good substitute and can have brilliant colors.  I use a mix of brown and red water soluble aniline dyes to color it similar to Cuban.  However, you have to realize that it will darken with age even more so than cherry.  If you do it right, the color over time will be specatular in its deep reds and browns. Here is a pistol case I stained to look like Cuban mahogany.











While I don't have current photos of the case, here is a mahogany secretary desk from 1900 that I restored showing the deep dark color over time.





dave

[Stoner creek]

I REALLY like the golden undertones that you have here. I need more information about dye colors dilution etc.. Did you dilute with water, alcohol, and what ratio. Would your target color actually be lighter than your ultimate outcome? I’m good with that. Cherry for example darkens naturally through time.
 The more I play this game the more I understand how important the finished product really matters! You can have a fantastic gun and a somewhat average finish and you end up with another average gun.
 Luckily I will have some scraps to experiment with.
 This project is a keeper and I really want something right!!
 Thank you for the advice.
W

[bob in the woods]

My guitar necks are carved from genuine mahogany , such as what you have.
My neck blanks are quarter sawn and very strong and stable. The stain that I use is actually the pore filler, which works very well. Any luthier supply store will carry the stains necessary to achieve the colour you wants well as both oil and water based pore fillers.  Martin guitars have necks of honduras mahogany if you want to see an example

[tlallijr]

Hi Wayne , I have played around with some true African Mohagony and found that a simple vinegaroon stain with a linseed oil finish was very nice and looked a lot like the Issac Haines rifle.

[Philip A.]

Living in a place where a 2"x12"x14' plank of mahogany will set you back the whole of $50, I'd still not use that for a stock.

While it's hard wood, it is also brittle along the grain, and has a coarse grain structure, doesn't polish well. I've handled several locally restocked rifles (lotsa "poacher special"), and it's not an appealing wood on a stock.

[AZshot]

Traditionally Potassium Dichromate is used to darken mahogany.  It was one of the main woods used for furniture in the 18th-early 20th centuries. 
I've used it and it works immediately as it's drying.  It is a potential carcinigen, so you have to know the PPE and wear gloves.

[Robert Hill]

I built a pistol from mahogany one time, I stained it with nitric acid and it came out a very dark rich color. Don’t know much about how to get it to an English walnut color, we like to make them dark in South Carolina.
-Robert Hill

[Stoner creek]

Thank Robert! I’m going to try several dye-stains combinations.

[Clowdis]

I've done one mahogany stock and won't do another. It splits very easily along the grain as said before and your chisels must be very sharp to get any clean inletting cuts. As for finishing, I didn't use any stain, it worked out great just using an oil finish.

[Jim Kibler]

I've done one mahogany stock and won't do another. It splits very easily along the grain as said before and your chisels must be very sharp to get any clean inletting cuts. As for finishing, I didn't use any stain, it worked out great just using an oil finish.

As mentioned there are many types of "Mahogany" sold.  Genuine mahogany is a pleasure to work in my limited experience.

Jim

[Randall Steffy]

I agree Jim. And when I say genuine mahogany, I mean Honduran mahogany. As a patternmaker, it is available and the lumber of choice all my life. Attempts to convert us to African mahogany or other alternatives never did succeed. The real thing is a pleasure to work with, dense and especially stable. And when picking through a bundle, you can tell the good plank from the lighter, hairy stuff of the same lot. I say that generally, the best will have some wormholes. I'm not sure why, but that is my experience.

[Stoner creek]

 I really like the color of Dave’s pistol case. I saw a similar color on another woodworking site. The color was achieved by using a NGR dye and then darkened slightly. I’m not going to rule out some of the stains that I have on hand until give them a chance on practice wood.

[Clowdis]

I've done one mahogany stock and won't do another. It splits very easily along the grain as said before and your chisels must be very sharp to get any clean inletting cuts. As for finishing, I didn't use any stain, it worked out great just using an oil finish.

As mentioned there are many types of "Mahogany" sold.  Genuine mahogany is a pleasure to work in my limited experience.

Jim

It had nice color but I have no idea where it was from.