June 23, 2012
‘Adventures in Wood Finishing’ by George Frank. Heard about this book in one of my forums—found a first edition (1981) on Amazon for a dollar. Wow. Some serious old-world knowledge going on in here… “Cuban mahogany is the color of raw steak. Sponge it with a solution of potassium dichromate and its color deepens considerably. Not only does it become a dark rusty red, but the contrast between the light and dark markings is accentuated…Napoleon’s craftsmen often used this process…”

‘Adventures in Wood Finishing’ by George Frank. Heard about this book in one of my forums—found a first edition (1981) on Amazon for a dollar. Wow. Some serious old-world knowledge going on in here… “Cuban mahogany is the color of raw steak. Sponge it with a solution of potassium dichromate and its color deepens considerably. Not only does it become a dark rusty red, but the contrast between the light and dark markings is accentuated…Napoleon’s craftsmen often used this process…”