[Fly Fisher]

So i figure this Has been covered, but i thought id ask.
Im building a coffee table for a client. She wanted old reclaimed wood. So be it. I use most of the wood from an unrepairable Armoire. Probably a 100 years or so old. Mahogany, stained a Red Mahogany. Some of the table i had to plane some wood down and is now raw. Old but raw. The red Mahogany stain i have is close, but how do you get the "patina" of the old stain. You know, the dark kinda scuzzy look?
Is there a way to pick up the stain from the older wood and transfer it to the new?
I'm stumped. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Steve Neul]

You can't transfer the old stain to the new wood. It would be easier to strip the old wood and sand it so you could go back new. It would be easier to give you some clues to match the color if you would post a picture of the color you are trying to match. There shouldn't be any reason you can't make the same color. It just takes the right combination of pigments and or dyes. It is something that takes a lot of tinkering even for an experienced finisher. Sometimes an old finish has yellowed and to recreate that I use a little amber shellac. You have to be careful using shellac though if you are finishing with polyurethane. A de-waxed shellac is needed when using poly.