I am building a fireplace surround out of tile and african mahogany. The mahogany boards are of varing degrees of aging and therefore of varying degrees of color. I need to age them to a consistant color. I know they will eventually turn color but in the meantime I have to live with some light tan areas and some deep brown. Any suggestions? Leo
Yep...put them in the sun light...of course that will cause other problems... You will need to tint,dye or stain that wood to get a constant color(which is what factories do).
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Thanks, I knew you would say that. Probably by the time I get done planing they will all be about the same hue. I have used this stuff before and like the ribbon grain but sometimes the color is a problem. Leo
Mahogany can be darkened with a dilute lye solution. Experiment with strength, but just a few percent worked well for me. The effect is instantaneous. Some will say you need to neutralize the lye with a weak acid, but I haven't found this necessary. I believe exposure to the air for a time will do it.
Acids and bases don't just go away. It's possible that wood has some slight buffering capacity, but a splash of vinegar is easy and quick.
then what do you do to neutralize the vinegar?
most species of wood are mildly acidic as they come off of the tree.
The vinegar and the lye neutralize each other. Didn't know about the acidity of trees; thanks for the tidbit.
I've never neutralized the lye, and haven't seen problems with finishes (the main concern, I think). Lye is a strong base, and I wouldn't be surprised if it would mess up the chemistry of a finish material. Lye loses strength when exposed, though. I suspect that the NaOH reacts slowly with atmospheric CO2, leaving sodium carbonate--a much more benign material.
A potassium dichromate solution will help the color along. A good photo supply shop should have it.
John Martin
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