Artificially aging mahogany?

[Tavy]

Is there a way to accelerate darkening that happens to mahogany over time?

I have a new piece of wood grafted into old mahogany, and it's obviously pale and pink where I've been sanding. I know it'll get to the right color if I wait for long enough - 'cos it came from a stash that was was the right color until I sanded it! I'm a little concerned it'll take months rather than days for it to darken though. Any ideas on speeding it up?

BTW I tried cold tea on a test piece based on some information I found out there on the net (no snarky comments please ) and if anything it's ended up even paler

[Spruce]

You could play around with this process, although it's hard to isolate the repaired area...

Maybe some tinted lacquer brushed in to the repaired area??

Got pics?

[sunburst]

Airbrushed dye works best for me, on bare wood.
Something to try on scrap:
Lye. Oven cleaner, Draino, any sodium hydroxide solution. Wear rubber gloves, keep it away from you eyes, treat it like the deadly poison it is in high concentrations, and rub a little on some scrap. It will darken, but I don't know if it will be the correct color or what concentration you'll need if it is even close. It may be too dark really fast.

[Tavy]

Thanks guys.

Spruce, I posted pics in another thread, but here we go:



New wood has darkened a bit since I took that, but not enough...

[Spruce]

Thanks guys.

Spruce, I posted pics in another thread, but here we go:



New wood has darkened a bit since I took that, but not enough...

Yeah, mess around with that tea/steel wood procedure on the tenon to see if you can get them to match up...
No harm there...
Then try it on the neck if you can get some good results...

The trick is the amount of time you leave the vinegar solution on after the tea treatment...
Too long, and it starts turning really gray, like outdoor wood...
I'd say 15-20 minutes or so, then lightly sand it to homogenize it with the existing neck....

[Tavy]

Yeah, mess around with that tea/steel wood procedure on the tenon to see if you can get them to match up...
No harm there...
Then try it on the neck if you can get some good results...

The trick is the amount of time you leave the vinegar solution on after the tea treatment...
Too long, and it starts turning really gray, like outdoor wood...
I'd say 15-20 minutes or so, then lightly sand it to homogenize it with the existing neck....

Unfortunately on my test piece it went straight from pink to an unpleasant shade of grey

Back to the drawing board (or dyes)...

[kjbllc]

look up "light box" or "UV box" it will darken the wood to a certain extent, a week or so, then maybe try the other suggestions?

[Spruce]

Unfortunately on my test piece it went straight from pink to an unpleasant shade of grey

Sorry...
I've only used it (successfully) on maple and alder...
Worth a shot, as the results can be pretty authentic...

[Tavy]

Sorry...
I've only used it (successfully) on maple and alder...
Worth a shot, as the results can be pretty authentic...

No worries, it was worth a shot. Certainly good if you want grey

[Michael Weaver]

You must have used Earl Grey.....should have went with Lipton.....sorry

[Bill Snyder]

You could try fuming it with 28% ammonia. Here is a video showing that method used on white oak. I don't know if it will work on mahogany though.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-t...h-ammonia.aspx

[Tavy]

You could try fuming it with 28% ammonia. Here is a video showing that method used on white oak. I don't know if it will work on mahogany though.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-t...h-ammonia.aspx

Fuming... ? Ammonia...? I watched the video and you must be kidding... easier to just wait a while longer!

[Frank Ford]

1. Oxidation turns the surface of wood to that nice color.

2. Oxidation happens quickly in an ozone atmosphere.

3. High voltage sparks create ozone in air.

4. Old neon transformers are a source of high voltage (10,000 or so).

5. Some people have set up spark generators in boxes to treat wood surfaces placed inside there. . .

[Timbofood]

Gee Frank, that sounds downright "Frankensteinian"!

[tree]

1. Oxidation turns the surface of wood to that nice color.

2. Oxidation happens quickly in an ozone atmosphere.

3. High voltage sparks create ozone in air.

4. Old neon transformers are a source of high voltage (10,000 or so).

5. Some people have set up spark generators in boxes to treat wood surfaces placed inside there. . .

Now THAT is why I love this place!

[HoGo]

Some woods react to potassium dichromate (very toxic!!!!) solution or safe (but less efficient) potassium premanganate (you can buy it at pharmacy). Test on scraps.

[Paul Hostetter]

From Wikipedia: As an oxidizer that generates the dark brown product MnO2, potassium permanganate rapidly stains virtually any organic material such as skin, paper, and clothing. Solid KMnO4 is a strong oxidizer and thus should be kept separated from oxidizable substances. Reaction with concentrated sulfuric acid produces the highly explosive manganese(VII) oxide (Mn2O7). When solid KMnO4 is mixed with pure glycerol or other simple alcohols it will result in a violent combustion reaction.

I've seen some pretty successful "agings" done by masking off the older, darker material, leaving only the new pink stuff exposed—and then exposing it to UV. I've also done stains to get it to catch up, but I always wonder what it's all going to look like in ten or twenty years.

[joec]

Another vote for UV, maybe masking as Paul suggests. It doesn't take that long to see some color; 2-3 days, with deeper in a week or two. If you use any stain or dye, go VERY light, and make sure you test on similar (that is END) grain. If you test on flat grain, get the color you want, and put it on the heel/endgrain, it will likely end up much darker. Endgrain loves water/stain--drinks it up. Maybe you can blend it with a little tone in the finish, if you get a start here.
Good luck!
Joe

[Bob Clark]

1. Oxidation turns the surface of wood to that nice color.

2. Oxidation happens quickly in an ozone atmosphere.

3. High voltage sparks create ozone in air.

4. Old neon transformers are a source of high voltage (10,000 or so).

5. Some people have set up spark generators in boxes to treat wood surfaces placed inside there. . .

How about attaching it to a kite and flying it during a thunderstorm? Oh wait...that's already been done with a key. Never mind.

[testore]

A 2 or 3% solution of potassium hydroxide may get you close.

[Champlin]

Another method of darkening mahogany that I don't see mentioned here is wiping it with water and baking soda. I drop a teaspoonful of soda into a coffee mug of water, stir it up until well dissolved, and wipe down new mahogany parts (usually guitar necks) for my second raising of the grain. When dry, the color usually looks slightly purple-ish, but under shellac is a nice, warm, mahogany brown.

Perhaps not the method for what you're doing here, but worth a mention for other projects.

[bratsche]

I'd be concerned that if you artificially age it by adding any sort of colorant, when it gets around to be naturally aged, it will become darker than the original wood you're trying to match.

bratsche

[Michael Lewis]

This sort of situation is what sunbursts are for. Just sayin'

The Martin Guitar Co. uses red mahogany stain on all their mahogany guitars because the wood varies so much this makes them all sort of the same color.

[rhubarbmuncher]

Some woods react to potassium dichromate (very toxic!!!!) solution or safe (but less efficient) potassium premanganate (you can buy it at pharmacy). Test on scraps.

I have a lot of mahogany furniture that I made around 1982. I darkened it with potassium permanganate, which worked very well, and still looks perfect 35 years later. Experiment with the strength of the solution (not too strong). Stronger solutions seem to turn it darker. The process is very easy and there does not seem to be any risk of blotches or unevenness.

Thought I have not experimented with Pot permanaganate with other timbers -- I think it may be specific to (Honduras) mahogany. Lie (sodium hydroxide) seems to work well with cherry.

[tonydxn]

Potassium permanganate works well for me, but I also find it very useful to keep a set of these stains by me https://chestnutproducts.co.uk/produ...-wood-colours/
You get a small bottle each of 12 colours for £18.50