Chosing a Stain Color....Not a Simple Task!

To say that I experimented with color would be an understatement.  I finally chose Modern Mahogany NGR dye stain from Mowhawk. A very nice burgundy-red color.

First step was to condition the mahogany with a wash mixture of 70% lacquer thinner and 30% sanding sealer. This will allow the stain to cover more evenly and allow more working time to wipe off the excess.

Next, apply the NGR (non grain raising) stain in a 50/50 mixture of stain & denatured alcohol. This also allows for more working time and lightens the color just a bit.

Wiping off excess stain. The coverage was very even and I was very happy with the final color.

The final color after sanding sealer applied. Next I will apply grain filler then final gloss lacquer finish.

Here are all the pieces of the piano with stain applied. The darker pieces have sanding sealer applied. Now on to staining the cabinet.

Sanding the Posts & Lathe Mash-up!

Well...Sanding the leg posts presented a challenge right off the bat.  It's very time consuming and difficult to hand-sand round pieces. I needed a hack a few available tools to get the job done... I had a small Taig metal lathe and thought I could rig up a temporary tail piece to accept the longer leg post.  I pulled out the bench vice and fastened it to the workbench. I also fastened the lathe to the bench as well. Using the live center from the lathe, I clamped it into the bench vise and it worked great!

I was able to get about 95% of the stain off the leg - enough to re-stain. The (square) ends I hand sanded afterwards....

To mount the leg in the chuck, I cut off the end of a drum stick and just happened to fit snug in the end of the leg.  The other end I just used a center punch to create a dimple for the live center.