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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/Restoration of Dried Mahogany Door

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Expert: - 6/25/2010


Question
I live in an arid desert climate near Las Vegas and just bought a home with a beautiful, but sun baked and dried, mahogany front doorway.  It is sheltered from rain but receives much direct sunlight.  I need advice on what to use to restore/preserve the wood as well as what type of wood filler to repair small cracks and shrinkage near joints.  After restoring some moisture to the wood, what type of finish or preservative would be good to use?

Answer
Hi Steve, you can't really restore "moisture" to the wood when something is this weathered. In your conditions, wood is going to suffer, no matter what you do to try and keep it looking nice. There are such wild swings in humidity and hot sunlight baking it most of the time, that wood, as a natural material, isn't suited well for longevity in such situations.....wood filler won't last long before it starts to crack and separate from the areas, especially at joints, because the wood will expand and contract often. The joints are where the wood grain is usually perpendicular to the neighboring piece, and so opposing movement will always occur, over and over again, every time the environment changes.Because Mahogany has such open pores, it's also almost impossible to apply filler without invariably getting it in the pores of the surrounding area, which always looks bad..(but you can mask carefully to minimize that). The best course of action would be to repair the cracks by disassembling and rejoinig the door, thereby allowing you to pull all the joints together properly eliminating the gaps, and repairing cracks as best you can, ....but I realize that's a big job, and takes a fair amount of skill...and when wood has weathered to a certain point of cell collapse, it's not possible to do that sometimes...as the pieces just do not fit together properly any more. The other concern is that it had some type of finish on it originally, and it needs to be removed completely if you hope to get good penetration and adhesion of your restoration.Stripping and/or thorough prep sanding will facilitate that. I'm a big fan of penetrating oil finishes on woodwork such as this, and some are available with color in them. They penetrate into the wood and harden, and therefore won't chip, peel, or flake as a surface finish will, (think poly or varnish), and they can be reapplied yearly or so to add depth and protection. I like the Flood products, Cabot's line, etc. Hope that helps a little- post back if need be- regards- Greg

http://www.flood.com/wood-care-solutions/products/view-product.jsp?productId=2

http://www.cabotstain.com/products/product/Australian-Timber-Oil.html?productTyp...

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Greg Scholl

Expertise

Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.

Experience

Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.

Publications
Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")

Education/Credentials
Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.

Past/Present Clients
Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.

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