Refinishing Mahogany

I need some advice on what would be the best way to refinish the bulkhead in this photo. I was told it is mahogany. The original varnish (?) is coming off and the light patch is where I hit it with a sander. Can I sand this down and simply re-varnish it? Or is there a better way to go?

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

Well i dont know much about boats but im a painter and if it was me i would do just as you said sand it down. Then find some varnish and put some coats on it there are a few to pick from in the store section of this site.

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

It can be sanded, but be careful. It might be veneer on top of some other material, plywood ect. Sometimes it is best to use a little laquer thinner and a green scrubby to clean the old varnish and stain off. Then sand very lightly and restain or varnish ect.

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

Definitely do the lacquer thinner/green scrubby thing that Freddy suggests. I'd bet money that those are some sort of laminate or plywood with a mahogany top layer. It would be very easy to sand through the top layer, especially around the edges. That old varnish usually comes right off with lacquer thinner. Then just put some clear on it. Mahogany is beautiful wood, IMO.

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

Also don't use regular varnish. Use marine grade spar varnish. It has UV (from the sun) inhibitors. Use many thin coats rather than one thick one.

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

You think it could be vaneer? The boat was built in 1969. Could be I guess. I removed a support from the forward berth and replaced it with marine ply a couple of years ago. The wood looked to be the same as the rest of the cabin and it was solid. It was a support piece, un-finished, and was out of site so I used the ply. Would it have been common in those days to use vaneer?

If it is solid, should it come up smooth when i sand it? I was told mahogany grain will not smooth out like other woods. I feel like a bonehead now that I sanded that one spot. You think it will cause a light color tone in the area where I sanded?

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

they have been using veneer for a hundred years or more. I am not saying it is veneer, but when in doubt alway treat it like veneer. If you could see a cross section of the wood you could tell. Nowadays they put veneer over plywood, but in the old days they would put veneer over pine or another cheaper secondary wood. They would still advertise it as solid wood as it was just not solid mahogany. If you want use the thinner and green scrub as I suggest. Use gloves! and see how it turns out. It is possible if you are not going to stain it you will have a light spot where you sanded it. You can either lightly sand the whole board to match after stripping or stain it all to match. I would be inclined to stain if it were me.

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

If it is veneer I would just replace it instead of refinishing it. It would be a heck of a lot easier, and more than likely look better than most of us could finish it. I redid a 75 year old chest of drawers we found in my Grandmother's garage from her antique shopping days. It was beat up pretty bad with deep gouges in the wood, etc ... I stripped the old veneer and replaced it with Cherry. It looks like a brand new chest of drawers. If you mate it right and seal it you will never be able to see the seem. You may even be able to find some as wide as you need locally, and cut it out with a router. Here is a link to the product that I used.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2215

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

You can cut it oversized and use a laminate trimmer to make it flush, I would just refinish it though.

Re: Refinishing Mahogany

You could also lay down a plastic drip cloth and use some 'liquid strip'. Then let it sit for a few days and lightly hand sand it to remove any residue or raised grain.