I need to get some hardwood for extra hand railings and need it to be the
same as
the existing if possible. I have a placed picture on my website.
http://wood.ergonometrix.co.uk/woodstair.jpg

Currently it is stained and varnished but I would like to sand it down and
apply oil or beeswax.

- depending on it's angle to the light the wood reflects the light in
different ways. - Is it real mahogany or ?

Looking forward to your answers.

Cheers
Larry

larry wrote:
I need to get some hardwood for extra hand railings and need it to be the
same as
the existing if possible. I have a placed picture on my website.
http://wood.ergonometrix.co.uk/woodstair.jpg

Currently it is stained and varnished but I would like to sand it down and
apply oil or beeswax.

- depending on it's angle to the light the wood reflects the light in
different ways. - Is it real mahogany or ?


Looks like a bit of beech to me.

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 21:11:51 -0000, "larry"
wrote:

Is it real mahogany or ?

No, it isn't mahogany. Now where was that picture?

Chances are that it's Brownwood Kurtzii. This is any old rubbish that
was cheap that week when they bought it. It appears to have the striped
chattoyance that Sapele is best known for (think of '70s hi-fi
cabinets), so it's a tropical. If it's in the UK, then it's probably
African rather than Asian - maybe utile or something similar.

Colour will be unpredictable, so expect to sand it, stain it, then oil
it.

Chris Bacon wrote:
larry wrote:
I need to get some hardwood for extra hand railings and need it to be the
same as http://wood.ergonometrix.co.uk/woodstair.jpg

Currently it is stained and varnished but I would like to sand it down and
apply oil or beeswax.

Looks like a bit of beech to me.

It is beech. It is unlikely to be cherry or sycamore the nearest to it
IIRC. Not on a stair at any rate. You will have trouble matching the
shade. You might get away with sapele if you want to add the darker
flecks with a felt pen or something (which would be time consuming.)

But isn't there some importation problem with sapele? Cutting all the
forests down for it or some such? I think I heard something whilst
watching the BBC programme about Kew.

What you need to be careful of is that the bit by the front door is
made of beech and the rest out of a cheaper wood. What sort of an house
is it?

Weatherlawyer wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:

larry wrote:

I need to get some hardwood for extra hand railings and need it to be the
same as http://wood.ergonometrix.co.uk/woodstair.jpg

Currently it is stained and varnished but I would like to sand it down and
apply oil or beeswax.

Looks like a bit of beech to me.


It is beech.

Looks like sapele to me

thank you all - I eventully went for utile - that's what the timber yard had
and it resembled it pretty well - maybe even the same. It's only a 10-15
year old house so I was pleased that it was not some cheap stained pine the
builder had used.

"larry" wrote in message
...
I need to get some hardwood for extra hand railings and need it to be the
same as
the existing if possible. I have a placed picture on my website.
http://wood.ergonometrix.co.uk/woodstair.jpg

Currently it is stained and varnished but I would like to sand it down and
apply oil or beeswax.

- depending on it's angle to the light the wood reflects the light in
different ways. - Is it real mahogany or ?

Looking forward to your answers.

Cheers
Larry

Stuart Noble wrote:
Weatherlawyer wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:

Looks like a bit of beech to me.

It is beech.

Looks like sapele to me

If looks were all that mattered either would do -if sapele was not
illegal. It would certainly take the stain better to match.

Beech has freckles that are always the same degree darker than the main
bulk of the wood. Sapele has holes IIRC which might discolour with
filler and stain I am not sure. In either case beech is a much harder
material and better for the job IMO.

Scrape a piece back to the bare wood and see.

larry wrote:
[ snip ]

So what did the yardman say your sample was?