Mahogany and bleeding sap

pinkopalino | Posted in Wood and Materials on March 26, 2010 08:00am

I recently purchased Santos Mahogany woodboards (I think this wood comes from Peru). The wood has been planed. There is some bleeding of sap or resin on the surface, and would like to know how to get rid of the bleeding. Is there a solvent that will remove it from the surface, or will I have to plane it to final thickness and then seal it?

Replies

ring | Mar 27, 2010 12:42am | #1
Try any solvent you've got, like acetone or alcohol. They will evaporate away and won't harm the wood in any case.

pinkopalino | Mar 27, 2010 12:45pm | #2
Bleeding mahogany

I've tried alcohol, lacquer thinner, terpentine and varsol - all to no avail. Have yet to try naphtha though.

ring | Mar 28, 2010 12:36am | #3
NC thinner

If you've got nitrocellulose lacquer thinner, I've found that it will dissolve almost anything...

JohnWW | Mar 29, 2010 01:23pm | #4
Wiping away bleeding resin with a solvent isn't a permanent fix, and there may not be a good fix. The resin is possibly coming out of pockets deeper in the wood and can continue to surface for years. I have a twenty year old chest made from resinous pine that still gets drops of resin coming to its surface when the weather is hot.

I am not familiar with the wood you are using, but I would be hesitant to use it in a project where the resin coming to the surface would be a problem later on. I would suggest returning the wood to whoever you bought it from and asking for a refund.

Kiln drying resinous wood is supposed to harden the resins so that they can't migrate, but I know from experience that this isn't a sure fix. I know of no finish that will seal a wood that is actively bleeding liquid resins, shellac won't do the job, the resin will form bubbles underneath the shellac.
WillGeorge | Apr 05, 2010 04:13pm | #5
I have used Santos Mahogany many time and I have never seen what you describe.... Very expensive here in Chicago but I love the wood. Very easy to work with. Are you sure you got Santos? I would think if it gave up sap? You should have seen some when you bought it?? Not sure about that...

I have really never experienced it... I buy most of my wood from Owl Hardwoods here in Chicago. Nice woods with nice folks to serve you.. They bend over backwards to serve... I think most of their customers are high end carpenters.. BUT they still treat me like a high end customer.. I have bought Santos over many years and I haver seen any sap oozing out... Anywhere in the wood..

I have no idea if the wood could do that or not...

I usually wipe my harwood with Acetone and let it flash-off before gluing anything...