Barry Daniels wrote:
Very nice color and glow to the mahogany.
What was your finish schedule?
Barry,
The color I was able to get on the mahogany comes primarily from the shellac variety I used, and to a lesser extent from the oil based paste filler I used. The paste filler was Bartley's Light, applied first to bare wood (i.e no sealer prior to applying the filler). I think it took something like 3 applications to fill the pores, and I then buffed in a very light final coat for a little color and later scuffed it lightly with a maroon synthetic pad. I just saw that Bartley's went out of business last month, so I don't know if their stuff will be available much longer. Anyway, the idea is to use a light filler (as opposed to the dark walnut filler Martin uses to get its mahogany look).
The majority of the color comes from the Bysakhi seedlac shellac I used on top of the filler. It's a waxed shellac and needs to be decanted, and I believe it may only be available during certain times of the year. I get it from Jeff Jewitt at Homestead Finishing. I really like the way it looks on mahogany. As when using any dark shellac, you need to be careful to prevent getting blotches when applying it. I did a few test boards first, and think I ended up with two light coats (1 pound cut) and then burnished in a few 2 pound coats.
The topcoats are Epifanes gloss varnish, and I basically followed the schedule recommended by Laurent Brondel for applying that. You should be able to do a search and find the finish schedule he recommends, and also see the fantastic results he gets (far better than mine)!
Howard Klepper wrote:
Good work!
What kind of tuners?
Howard,
The tuners are Stewmac's nickel finish 6-on-a-plate "Golden Age Restoration Tuners" they came out with a little over a year ago (part# 2502).
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