[Ron T]

I just finished this Indian, carved in mahogany, with Watco Danish oil and the result was a very dark red. Is there another type of finish I could use that would have left the wood a lighter color? I was told waterbased polyurethane wouldn't darken it as much.

I know that fresh carved wood is light and when it is exposed to UV it darkens. Perhaps the wood would get dark regardless of the finish. Any ideas?

http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...opper-004w.jpg

[AlArchie]

This is just an observation, and may not be the answer to your question. From what I've seen, oils of any kind will seem to darken all but very light colored woods. I think it returns the wood to it's original "wet" state look.
As thse oils never really completely dry, that darker color will probably stay.

Wipe a piece of maple, or other darker wood with a damp rag and you'll see this darkening. When the water evaporates, it will return to it's "dry" shade.

Brush some sanding sealer on a piece of maple and you will see the same thing happen...it gets darker. When the sealer completely dries, the wood will again return to it's "dry" shade.

Wipe some oil on that piece and it will darken and STAY dark...the oil never completely dries.

So my bet to retain the "natural" color of darker woods is to seal it with a good grade sanding sealer prior to applying the final finish.

Al

[Alice in Wonderland]

There are different types of Mahagony some are darker then others,so it may be thet yours is the darker kind??? I have seen some they are almost black/red, you still can use some W,B,P on top of Wtco only after it has cured well,no more smell.
I use water bourne Poly on all my light colored wood, I also have used BLO on it before and I wipe it off after 30 minutes and then I let it sit until there is no more smell, I just finished a red Cedar Bowl and it turned out perfect , the red really shows up by using the above method.
I hope this helps
Alice