Bob,
I have had similar problems to you in the distant past with refinishing
wood on other early automobiles. Recently when I did the original
mahogany dashboard over on my Morgan I took all kinds of precautions to
get the "perfect" high gloss varnish finish including spraying it upside
down suspended from the ceiling so the dust wouldn't settle on it while
the varnish was still wet. It came out just as I expected, however it
had that "cheap glossy look" and also provided unbelievable amounts of
sun glare. I ended up wet sanding the gloss with 600 paper and
finishing it off with a high quality furniture wax. The result is a non
glare very rich looking finish.
With mahogany and other open grain woods it is essential to use a paste
wood filler or other sealer before varnishing. Otherwise it can take
many many coats of varnish before you fill all the pores in the wood.
One of the best sealers is a low molecular weight epoxy such as West
System #505 resin with their #206 special coating hardener. This does
not provide a very smooth finish but seals the wood well. Sand this
down with 150 paper and follow with 2 or 3 coats of polyurethane spar
varnish sanded lightly between each coat and then do the wet sanding
with 600 paper followed by the paste furniture wax. It's beautiful, and
after 2 years it still looks like I did it yesterday even though I have
not rewaxed it since the initial application.
I also used a dark red mahogany stain before sealing for a dark, rich
color
Art Hart
'64 +4
Chester, NJ
///
/// morgans@autox.team.net mailing list
///
|