Blotchy finish – tung oil on mahogony veneer plywood
I’ve just about finished up a vanity out of mahogony. It’s a mixture of solid and veneered 3/4″ plywood. My plan was to finish with multiple coats of pure tung oil, which I tested on scraps and really liked the look of.
Process:
1. Sand to 220
2. Wipe down with lint-free shop cloth
3. Wipe down again with denatured alcohol
4. Apply 100% tung oil liberally and wipe off after 10 minutes or so.
All of the hardwood looks great, but a lot of the big veneer faces seem “splotchy” – with some areas darker and other much lighter. The patterns don’t follow grain. Could it be due to uneven sanding or something else? The veneer plywood felt like it came sanded to 150 or so and I just went over it once with 220. I don’t think I oversanded, but this is my first time working with veneered plywood, so maybe I did?
I’ve attached a photo which actually looks worse than it does in person, but it shows the issue.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Replies
Mahogany is very porous, and parts of it have soaked up more glue in the veneer than others. Areas more impregnated with glue are going to resist the oil. It's just not a great choice for veneer plywood.
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I was afraid of something like that. It has a "good" side and a "bad" side - I'm not sure if it has to do with how they construct the plywood, but the bad side seems to have this issue. It's the inside of the vanity, so not a huge problem.
Anything I can do to mitigate the issue? Would a different finish than just oil perform better under the circumstances?
Thanks again.
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