Have a beautiful mid century modern solid mahogany coffee table made by my husband 68 yrs ago. The red color looks terrible with all my walnut and black wood. Want to tone down or get rid of the red but retain the beautiful graining and create a warm nuanced color. I’ve stripped and sanded to 180 but am completely overwhelmed by all the different finish options. I’m a novice, please help with suggestions!
Replies
You have two effective choices.
1. A stain then a finish
2. A coloured finish.
Stains have the advantage of soaking into the wood a bit, but the disadvantage of uneven coverage at times. They can also be a bit difficult to apply well, though good results can be obtained by following the pack directions and a bit of help from youtube.
Far easier is to apply a varnish with a tint. This allows you to build up layers to achieve your desired finish level and it is dead easy to achieve a good result. The downside is that any chips will show the underlying wood colour and you can still end up with a streaky finish if you are not careful.
Varnishes also have the advantage that you can sand them off if you hate the effect enough to do the work.
Oil based varnishes are easier to apply perfectly but take a longer time to dry. The longer drying time allows them to flow well if you are not experienced at applying the water based finishes which need to be applied more evenly and more rapidly than oil based options.
For me, I would used a water based polyurethane, probably with a dark walnut colour, thinned 10% with water for the first and maybe second coat and applied with a quality artificial fibre brush. The first coat will raise the grain of the wood some, so you will need to sand it smooth with 240 grit paper after. There is no need to sand between subsequent coats, though you do need to re-coat reasonably quickly to ensure the layers bond together. Just follow the directions on the tin.
Good luck!
Will the colored poly leave a one dimensional look and will it still allow the red to show through? I've thought of a green dye to kill the red and then a yellow dye on top of that or as a toner to add warmth. Thoughts? What do you use between layers to keep from mixing together? Or would the dark walnut finish do all those things? Also, everything I read says that oil finish is easier and more durable but yet you and others suggest water based, why? Best brands to use would be appreciated
Mahogany begs to be coloured with a gel stain such as General Finishes oil based gel stains, it fills the grain and allows the wood figure to show through. Their brown mahogany shows some red on the samples so I would go with antique walnut and topcoat with a perfectly clear water based sanding sealer followed by 3 coats of water based poly like their high performance Topcoat. Oil based varnishes will bring some amber, water based will not and come closer to the walnut tones.
I will add that mahogany is sometimes too orangy-red for my tastes. In these situations I add a bit of green (not like green grass, I'm talking about a green element in a warm brown appearance) or use an existing colorant that has a green element. You can also use your favorite and if the result is too red on your test pieces (always, always, always do test runs) add a drop or two of Transtint Green and re-test.
I would never use a poly/stain product, period.
I agree with gel stain. Check out General Finishes for a tutorial on using gel stains.
Use the bottom of the table as a test palette.
If you're ambitious, sand a spot about 12x12" on the underside until raw wood shows. Then rub with vinegar and steel wool. The vinegar will mix with the tannin and maybe, just maybe, bring out a color close to what you want.
I've done it with red oak and ash and got some nice blues, depending on how much vinegar i applied.
Good luck whatever you do,
Mikaol
#3is the sanding sealer there to keep the stain from bleeding into the poly finish? I want a warm amber color, just not red. Also is there any problem using the water based over the oil based stain?
#4 you understand my issue with the red (it had a beautiful finish before, I'm only doing this to change the red ) can you be more specific about how and where to use the green, red killing, dye. Do you or anyone have any experience with the Mixol brand dye, bought some because of cheaper price (yellow, green, brown , black) but there is very little info on line about how to use and if it is a good product.
I have also thought about the vinegar steel wool thing to ebonite. Got to focus and decide sometime though
The sanding sealer is to cut down on sanding and the number of coats to fill the wood pores, it can be avoided. Waterborne finishes are poor at giving a amber tone. I have used Enduro-Var (waterborne poly with amber tone) over gel stains before General Finished issued a warning not to do so, however I waited 24 hours + after wiping the stain dry before applying a coat of shellac, which acts as a sanding sealer and have had no problem.
May I offer an opposing opinion? And, it is just my opinion. It is a beautiful table made by your husband a long time ago. If you change it, it will no longer be all his. If that is important, I would suggest leaving it alone. If the color does not conform with the decor in the room, I would move it elsewhere and replace it with something that does. Personally, I would find it an important enough piece to warrant changing the room decor to blend with it. Maybe the problem is that it is the only piece in the room with that color. Maybe you could mix and match other pieces so that it fits in better. Again. Just my opinion.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled