Repairing a Solid Mahogany Tabletop.

[Frayed Knot]

As above, really; my saloon table is looking a little the worse for 44 years of wear & needs stripping & re varnishing. So far so no problem but it has several dents & gouges which are too deep to simply sand out.
Plain filler would stand out like the proverbial sore thumb & getting a fair match with pieces spliced in would be difficult as the wood grain is quite striped & would certainly show up.
Any suggestions? The table really is the centrepiece of the saloon so I want it to look as good as possible.

 

[ash2020]

Coloured wood filler then Liberon wax stick if necessary, or there are several fillers that will take spirit based wood dye in all sorts of colours.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

You could try lifting the dents out by steaming them with a domestic steam iron with a thin cloth between the wood and iron. It would be worthwhile making a mask to shield the surrounding area.
It might work or it might not, I have done it occasionally for small indentations.

 

[Daydream believer]

Fill it & veneer it.
You could take it to a professional veneer shop & have it veneered. It is not expensive. Or never used to be. I used to take mine (van loads) to Shawyers in Hackney, but there was Shadbolts on the North circular, who used to advertise their veneer of the week. These Cos. are probably long gone & not near you anyway. But there will be one near you. Before veneering they will put the top through a drum sander & flatten it first. They may even direct you to a professional polisher.
Then you could lip the edges in mahogany yourself.
Then 2 coats shellac to hold back any silicones in the old polishes etc. & 3 coats sadolin pv67 applied with roller & laidoff with a brush if necessary

 

[Hacker]

If you are sanding the top then save the sawdust and mix it with glue. You could experiment with using superglue added to sawdust that has been packed into a groove. I’ve never tried that method but understand it works well.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

If you are sanding the top then save the sawdust and mix it with glue. You could experiment with using superglue added to sawdust that has been packed into a groove. I’ve never tried that method but understand it works well.

It's not a bad hard filler but I have yet to see a filler that truly matches the surrounding wood, if filling I think the best you could do would be to get as close a match as you can with the filler then use a darker stain of the entire surface probably over applying to the filled areas but as Mahogany is a dark wood the results might not look that pleasing and overly dark.

 

[Frayed Knot]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really don’t want to go down the veneering route Db as it wouldn’t really work with the design of the table, which I hope to preserve.
Interesting idea re. the iron Fr, I’ll certainly give it a go on the actual dents. Other than that, I think I’ll just have to experiment with some fillers & dyes once it’s sanded back.

 

[tillergirl]

Could you show us a photo?

 

[Thistle]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really don’t want to go down the veneering route Db as it wouldn’t really work with the design of the table, which I hope to preserve.
Interesting idea re. the iron Fr, I’ll certainly give it a go on the actual dents. Other than that, I think I’ll just have to experiment with some fillers & dyes once it’s sanded back.

Try it on a scrap piece of wood first. Dent the wood with a hammer. Cover it with a very damp cloth and then put the iron on. Allow the steam to work. The dent should be almost completely removed. When you are happy with the principle, go for it on the table: you won't make it any worse!

 

[MisterBaxter]

I might try coating the top with clear epoxy, rollered on with the table top absolutely flat, so you can let it puddle and fill the scratches and gouges. Then sand off and varnish with two-part varnish to keep the UV off the epoxy so it doesn't yellow.

 

[Concerto]

The iron trick works well on flat surfaces provided all the existing finish has been removed. For compund curved, I have used a fine needle to prick the wood surface and covered it with damp kitchen paper for a few hours. Just keep repeating until the bruised timber has swollen back to its original shape. At my chart table I filled nearly 100 screw holes from removed equipment. They were filled with a water based filler slightly lighter than the wood and then a darker water based wood stain was used to closely match the wwood grain.







Although not perfect, most visitors aboard hardly see any of the flled screw holes until I start pointing them out. Frayed Knot, your boat is very similar in age to mine. No one expects a 44 year old boat to look perfect, so do your best and I feel sure you will be happier with the results compared to what it looks like today.

 

[Neeves]

You have not provided a picture, (you really don't have camera in your phone?! - and it costs you nothing to take one.

You table might be part of the character of your yacht and to tart it up might stand out like a sore thumb. If I visit a 44 year old yacht I expect brass lamps (with LEDs) a sextant on a shelf (with the chartploter discreetly behind a wooden (mahogany in your case) facia.

Maybe just sand it back and re-varnish.

I bet Cutty Sark et al don't have veneer and are proud of the characterful blemishes

Apologies - I have a fetish about photographs - how are we meant to give sensible advice, on almost anything, without a picture.....? We want to help, you - not guess.

Jonathan

 

[harvey38]

Every gouge tells a story.

I'd just sand it back and varnish.

 

[MisterBaxter]

Actually to be honest, although the epoxy treatment I mentioned above would potentially give a gorgeous mirror finish, if it was my boat I wouldn't mind about the gouges, I'd just sand it back and put on about six coats of tung oil, the first couple thinned down with a splash of white spirit. It takes less time than you'd think because you only need to leave an hour or two between coats, so you could do it over a weekend, and you just rub it on with a clean rag. It's the least trouble of any interior wood finish I know, and it has the great advantage that small areas can be touched up, or the whole refinished, with no more preparation than a wipe clean with a cloth.

 

[MontyMariner]

table is looking a little the worse for 44 years of wear

Assuming that this is on a 44 year old boat then I think it should be part of the character of the boat.
Strip old varnish, steam the indents, sand and use the dust mixed with clear epoxy or varnish to fill the divits, sand again and varnish.

 

[Supertramp]

+ 1 for Concerto's approach. I have filled old screw holes and scratches in teak and teak veneer using filler and then some carefully chosen wood dye to colour match. Then a lot of sanding followed by a lot of coats of varnish. My top finish is Epifanes satin, but under two coats of that is 5 to 8 coats of polyurethane gloss applied every few days and sanded back every couple of coats.

I now use a nonslip mat or tablecloth to prevent damage to my varnishing masterpiece so it's wasted really! Same approach works well for floorboards.

 

[Boater Sam]

If you can't loose a defect, make a feature of it. Paint a daisy? Carve a pattern?

 

[salar]

Another vote for steaming. Many years ago I renovated a few gunstocks and we raised dents with the steam method. You may have to do it several times to get rid of the dent. This only works if the wood has been crushed to create the dent, it obviously doesn't work if it's a scratch or gouge and wood had been removed.

 

[Frayed Knot]

You have not provided a picture, (you really don't have camera in your phone?! - and it costs you nothing to take one.

You table might be part of the character of your yacht and to tart it up might stand out like a sore thumb. If I visit a 44 year old yacht I expect brass lamps (with LEDs) a sextant on a shelf (with the chartploter discreetly behind a wooden (mahogany in your case) facia.

Maybe just sand it back and re-varnish.

I bet Cutty Sark et al don't have veneer and are proud of the characterful blemishes

Apologies - I have a fetish about photographs - how are we meant to give sensible advice, on almost anything, without a picture.....? We want to help, you - not guess.

Jonathan

Really? You can’t envisage a dent in a piece of wood?
The table is actually the only (slightly) shabby part spoiling an otherwise rather smart interior.
BTW, all of my lamps are either stainless steel or chromed and the plotter is proudly on display.
I sold my sextant and tables on eBay donkeys’ years ago.

 

[Neeves]

A, much, better man than me Fred R. Barnard made the comment - a picture is worth a thousand words - and I have not bothered but you have not used a thousand words to describe your dent. Tiller girl in Post 8 made the same comment - but its your yacht, nothing to do with me, nor Tiller girl. However the suggestions you have had are so varied, veneer (the table top is a disaster), steaming (the dent is superficial) and filling (the table will look as if it has been filled) - no-one has any idea what your table damage is really like.

If you cannot be bothered taking a picture - don't expect focussed replies. Its your table top why should I or anyone really care.

I've mentioned - I have a fetish about photos - if its too much bother to take one - maybe some might think its too much bother to offer advice.

Jonathan

edit

I like to think I know a bit about wood. This is our table top, solid African Ash. I made it myself (along with the bottle rack and the slim pilot book/chart rack. Not mahogany, not in keeping with a modern yacht, but like you I'd want period timber and (whether old or new) dovetailed, decent tongue a grooved or mortice and tenon joints. The table slides - so good for 2 for breakfast on passage and equally serviceable for entertaining when at anchor. And at 25 years old - well cared for. (the saloon sole - plastic).


I would not want to describe in words the table top - a picture does help.

Your call