Matching the Original Wood Finish

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm using ribbon cut tiama to replace all damaged Philipine mahogany. The natural colour is quite a bit redder than it should be. Now, it was suggested to me that I could bleach the colour out. In my ignorance, I thought that meant to take some Clorox to it. The result wasn't very satisfying. A date with google later, I found this article on bleaching wood using two-part wood bleach. I had to special order it from my local hardware store. It's so noxious, they don't like to put it on their shelves.

The instuctions recommend testing different ratios of the A and B portions. I divided up a piece of scrap (left over from the windows, my first great boat carpentry success).


The ratios, clockwise from top right: 1:1, 1:1 plus a second coat of 2:1, 2:1, and 1.5:1. The the very top right is an untreated section showing the original colour.

The next step was to apply the Cordova filler stain. I've premixed it with Turpentine to the consistency of varnish, brushed it on, and wiped it off against the grain. All per instructions.


The results with stain added. The 1:1 ratio looks too red still, but that may change when the stain dries and the varnish is on. (The wood bleach is on the left).

Next step is to apply some clear satin varnish. I'm using floor urethane, just because I happen to have some. To the left is a sample of the original stain.


From this test, the top right sample is looking like the closest match.