White Stuff in Pores of African Mahogany
davebishop
| Posted in General Discussion on
I am working with African mahogany for the first time. I have a straight-grained quartersawn board which I am prepping with jointer and thickness planer. I note that on the portion of the board nearer to one edge the linear pores in the grain are consistently dark, as is typical, while on the same face of the board, but nearer the opposite edge, many of the pores are filled with a white material. What is this stuff and how to eliminate it?
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“[Deleted]”
Good news! In the attached photo, the left side was wiped with denatured alcohol and the right side received a light spray coat of shellac, while the center is untreated. An area wiped with mineral spirits looked good while wet, but the white reappeared upon drying.
It's mineral deposits. Very common in mahogany and similar types of wood. Hand planing especially exposes it. But as you've seen, it disappears with finish.
I believe Mahogany grows in or around water and as it grows it picks up sand (silica) like cypress, teak.,and I’ve even seen it in sycamore.
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