Thread: African Mahogany

Hi everyone, ive been doing some research on what type of finish would be the best for a table (coffee table) made out of african mahogany and i wanted to ask what people think would be the best way to get a good durable finish while at the same time really exaggerating the beautiful grain of the timber so the grain and sheen that it produces really stands out nicely.

I was thinking one way of doing it would be to seal the timber first with shellac then putting a few coats of good quality matte or satin clear polyurethain varnish over the top, filling the pores so that the grain stands out. This i believe would give the timber, good resistance to vapour exchange from the shellac, while at the same time giving it the durability of a varnish. i was also wondering if it were worth it to give it another final top coat of shellac, that way if needed be, in the future i can more easily fix any scratches etc.

What does everyone think about that, or do you think there are better ways to go about it?

Thanks alot

Steven