Mahogony

[davec29011953]

Currently restoring a Miller Fifer. After sanding off layers of varnish we find some good quality but very dry mahogony beneath. An old sea captain friend (the only one sunk by the IRA) suggests oiling it. We will want to re varnish. Any comments.

 

[JesseLoynes]

Hi Dave,

I'd suggest it comes down to the finish you want and the time you can dedicate to it.

The beauty of oil is that once the initial coatings are sunk into the timber, it takes only a quick run over with an oily rag several times during the year to keep it looking tidy. Think of all the people who manage it with their "teak" garden furniture. If there isn't a huge amount of woodwork, then you are looking at four or five hours a year of maintenance. If you varnish it, you're looking at, say, six coats to start with, and another couple every year, to keep her looking pristine and make sure that no weather breaks through the varnish.


If you like the varnish finish, and it's areas such as the cabin sides or hatches, go for varnish and splash out on a decent cover. Then you get the beautiful brightwork and bring the varnishing to the absolute minimum.

Give us a little more info on where abouts on board the woodwork is, and whether you have covers etc.

Whichever you decide to do, if you use the search facility you'll find many discussions on the relative benefits of oil and varnish, and which products and methods to use.

Good luck with it. I'm sure it'll look fab however you finish her! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ccscott49]

I wouldnt oil mahogany, teak yes. I do believe if you do not seal the mahon in varnish or paint, it will go black, dont know, dont have a lot of experience with it, but the stuff I did have was varnished, looks beautiful shiny!

 

[Roach1948]

This is a very UV unstable wood and discolours much more quickly than any other wood, going either black or grey.

Having a mahogany deck myself I can assure you that the last thing you want to do is oil the wood. It will not provide any UV protection and will attract laods of dirt - making it go black within weeks and then you will need to re-sand. Dont ask me how I know this!

I would consider a modern coating such as Coelan or the one that I have applied to Roach's decks called Skippers from Aemme Colori in Italy. The first is a microporous coating with a lot elasticity but it is HUGELY expensive. I went for the later option as it is used on wooden Riva's and Venice water taxi's - it is very easy to apply - 6 coats in one day and my deck looks a treat. The only down side is that the desk is slippy when wet, but you can't have everything.

One thing to mention is that unlike other woods you MUST stain mahogany with a UV stable stain if it will be left uncovered in direct sunlight as it will discolour underneath any coating. If not, you will need to invest in a good cover as BSJEsse suggests.

 

[Gordonmc]

How about a compromise and use an oil based hard finish. I have large areas of brightwork in Honduran Mahogany. When I got the boat it was all covered in a brown goo, the sort of stuff you would paint a garden fence with. After getting rid of it all I took the Mahog down and used Deks Ojlie 1 & 2. I have since migrated to Le Tonkenois which I will stick with from now on.
Conversely Honduran tends to lighten with exposure to UV to a honey colour. The only downside is if there are localised repairs needed it can go patchy.
Neither Deks nor Le Tonk are technically varnishes. the latter has copious amounts of tung oil.

 

[jbastos]

I use a water-based exterior woodsealer for the last four years and I think it last more and is easier to apply than the solvent based one.Mahogany doesn´t like oil,and the varnish gives lots of work