Pore fillers with Mahogany

[wisardd1]

I have been reading about wood filling for mahogany in Flexner's book. I have a mahogany mirror frame as some of you know. Anyone use this stuff and what kind of results have you achieved?

dale

[sawduster]

Time to break out some scraps and start experimenting with different options to see what you like best.

For one effect, you can use a dark wood filler, another you can use a light colored filler. Another option is to make a slurry of fine sanding flour from the mahogany itself by sanding the piece using some thinned polyurethane as "lubricant", then working the slurry into the pores.

There are some who would say that for a fine finish you can expect to spend as much time on the finish as you did building the piece. I won't go quite that far, but a fine finish does take work. Like I said break out some scraps and experiment with both the fillers and with any stains as well as filming finishes you might contemplate. You'll learn more from that than folks here could tell you in page after page of posts. Long as you don't mix some ammonia with some chlorox or some such, mixing and matching different finishes is safe and you can learn a bunch doing it.

[Joe Lyddon]

TheWoodWhisperer has an episode on how he does it...

IRC, it was one of his first videos... so, if you can see a list, look toward the Start.

... found it!

thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-3-refinishing-part-5/

Enjoy!

[cabinetman]

You can get different feels and looks with how you apply finishes. Mahogany is an open pore specie. Some applications like applying sanding sealer will take many coats to completely fill the grain.
A 'paste wood filler' also called 'grain filler' should not be mistaken for 'wood putty'.

I prefer to use a petroleum based grain filler versus a water base. Used as per instructions, one application usually does the job. I apply to the bare wood. You can use the tinted version to match the wood, or start with a 'natural', and tint, or apply a stain or dye over the filled wood. You can use any finish to apply over wood treated with a grain filler.

Mahogany can also be finished without filling the grain, which will leave the wood feel and texture versus the slick surface of filled grain.

[wisardd1]

I like real wood grain, but the recepient prefers baby butt smooth! Thanks for the tips, I'm on it!

dale

[wisardd1]

Is famowood wood filler and the solvent ok for wood grain?

[cabinetman]

Dec 1, 2009 17:50:49 GMT -6 wisardd1 said:

Is famowood wood filler and the solvent ok for wood grain?

Famowood is a putty, not a grain filler. It's a repair material, like Plastic Wood, Durhams Rock Hard, Bondo, etc. You want a "Paste Wood Filler" or AKA "Grain Filler" like Pore-O-Pac:
www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004492/8463/Pore-O-Pac-Paste-Wood-Grain-Filler--Natural--1-Quart.aspx
or, www.constantines.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=161

[Joe Lyddon]

Dec 1, 2009 16:57:37 GMT -6 wisardd1 said:

I like real wood grain, but the recepient prefers baby butt smooth! Thanks for the tips, I'm on it!

dale

Did you watch the WoodWhisper video (above)?

[wisardd1]

Nope, not yet. I will watch it tomorrow morning.

[Joe Lyddon]

It will answer many of the questions you have about it... ;D