I have a long-standing disdain for wood finishing. I've become fairly adept with finishes, but the finish stage is necessarily slow, plodding, tedious. I generally
never use colorants of any kind, opting for oils and clear finishes to allow the wood's depth and grain to shine.
Okay, so I'm making lensboards for people now. Have an order right now for a set of lensboards for a Deardorff 8x10. The client requested that the new boards match the original finish as closely as possible. The 'Dorff is mahogany; fresh, oiled mahogany does
not match the original finish, which was stained.
So, the boards are completed and drilled. And I got to experimenting and mixing today. Tested my witch's brew on some scrap. I think I hit it. Applied to the boards, let soak for about 15 minutes, and wiped off:

I think, once the lacquer starts building and the color and depth deepen, these boards are gonna be an
exact match for the original 'Dorff finish! I'm so far beyond happy with this. :cool:
Sorry - had to gloat.
Now to get back to work on the lensboard adapter... :rolleyes: