Mahogany(?) lamp dye/stain help

[Fitzroy]

Hi all,

Finished the joinery on a lamp, but not glued up, and now thinking about how to finish. The wood is recycled from an old wardrobe, Victorian era, so I’m guessing mahogany(ish). It’s come up well with just a sharp plane, although looks a little inconsistent in a few places. Three way joint in the base has sycamore splines.

SWMBO would like it darker to sit better with the bedroom decor. Looking for advice on how to finish, and any suggested products, that will leave grain etc visible but darken the appearance.

Just to make the challenge harder, my finishing experience to date is danish oil on everything, so needs to be somewhat beginner friendly. And if possible I’d like the sycamore splines to remain contrasting.

Thanks in advance for all thoughts, comments, criticisms, and suggestions.

Fitz

Ps I know I’m likely asking too much, but may as well shoot for the moon initially

 

[custard]

I'd go for a water based aniline dye, something like this,

http://www.jpennyltd.co.uk/shopping/pgm ... php?id=263

The advantage of water based over spirit based is that it dries much more slowly and therefore is easier to keep a "wet edge" and avoid unsightly streaks. You'll see spirit based stain advertised as "light fast", in my experience there's actually not a huge amount of difference between them. The advantage of spirit based stain is it raises the grain less (it will still raise the grain a bit as its not totally free from water plus any liquid causes swelling which can trigger stray flattened fibres to lift). The trick is to coat first with warm water and then sand once dry.

Experiment on some scrap until you find a colour and a concentration that you like. I prefer several thinner coats to build up the final colour.

You can over finish with almost anything you like, a simple oil finish would help pop the grain and you don't need much protection from a finish for this application.

Good luck!