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September 29, 2009
Beautiful mahogany rails?
Nope, it's been woodgrained. Not wanting to go throught the mess of stripping the bannister, I decided to take a stab at producing a mahogany woodgrain. I've done this before with antique auto moldings so had some experience.
First lay a base of a neutral brown. As an example of colors, I'll use the Benjamin Moore Virtual Fan deck names. Paint a single coat of Acorn brown. Then, with a 2" brush ( no fancy brushes or "combs") lay in some deep red similar to Tucson Red. You don't want to cover all of the base brown, just streak it. Then, on top of that lay in some streaks of deep, solid black, not in any particular pattern but just long strokes "with the grain." You should then see part red and part black. Finally, give it a nice coat of Minwax Bombay Mahogany Gloss Polyshades. This stain includes the gloss polyurethane. Usually, I don't like gloss bit for the bannister it loooks a lot better.
Comments
Very nice Dave!
I'm gonna have you come by and give me some ideas! ...although it seems as if you enjoy the process and have much more patience in renovation than I do.
How long did the entire process take?
Posted by: moreteasir at September 29, 2009 9:07 AM
Thanks. It takes about 20 minutes each to apply the three colors and they need to dry about 4 hours each (latex). The last coat of poly stain needs to dry overnight. The key is to not get fussy with coverage, just lay out a whole bunch of random strokes of the red and black, not trying to "cover" anything else in particular.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 29, 2009 9:24 AM
Excellent tip dave. I have to give it a try on my rails.
Posted by: landlord at September 29, 2009 10:34 AM
Oh Man!
When yoiu said to look at your banister post I got my hopes up and thought maybe you were selling one. I need a section of this same kind to put mine back to it's original state instead of the way it is now. I guess my search continues elsewhere.
Dang!
Looks great though!
Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 29, 2009 11:20 AM
dibs, while it looks great, to me there's nothing like real wood. There, I said it.
Posted by: denton at September 29, 2009 1:34 PM
Dibs, do you mind posting a close-up? Does this only work for small details (i.e., could you paint a door like that?)
That bombay mahogany polyshades is great stuff. I used it to match some ancient shellac on replacement spindles.
Posted by: Frederick Law Homestead at September 29, 2009 1:52 PM
Dibs, you offerring hands on oversight training for this stuff?
Posted by: more4less at September 29, 2009 2:15 PM
I'd also like to see a closeup. Thanks for the post. Ever used those woodgrain tools (the grain print on a roller)? Obviously for different applications, but a set came with my house and I've been curious what trouble I can get into with them (other than faux bois wrapping paper, which won't be happening).
Posted by: BHS at September 29, 2009 2:34 PM
I think doing a full door would require a lot more expertise.
m4l, not only hands on oversight training but hands on overnight training as well.
I'll try for a close up but can't guarantee anything. ....Mr. DeMille, I'm ready....
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 29, 2009 3:03 PM
You did this yourself? I'm very impressed. Nice rugs too.
Posted by: mopar at September 29, 2009 11:17 PM
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