[htank]

I have some old mahogany (it's prob 30 years + old) and I was planning on using it to make some doll furniture.

It appears to be really dried out. My question is two part, first could it be to dry and old to use?

Second, is there anything I could do to bring the color back, other than staining it? Or once the color is gone, it's gone forever.

 

[htank]

Here are some pics

 

[Steve Neul]

30 years old isn't really that old for wood if kept indoors. It should work pretty much the same as new wood. When finishing it may absorb more stain if you use stain so I believe that may be your only real problem. The wood really isn't mahogany. It is a Philippine mahogany or otherwise know as Luan. The color is probably the color it has always been. Normally the red color of mahogany is an artificial stain anyway. Even Honduras mahogany is light and kinda orange in color.

 

[htank]

Thank you for the info.

 

[cabinetman]

You can still use the wood, and use a stain or dye if you like.

.

 

[HowardAcheson]

Wood can never be too dry. The moisture of wood equalizes with the moisture in air in which it is stored.

Looking at your pictures, I would wipe the boards down with mineral spirits and see how it looks. The MS will bring out the natural color of the wood previewing how it will look if finished with a varnish finish. The MS will dry within hours leaving the wood the way it looked initially.