Article April 23, 1904 Issue

A Wood-Carver's Lesson

M. E. B.

Here was the beautiful piece of solid mahogany, just home from the carpenter's. The wood fairly shone, and this perfect polish was necessary, as the carving I wished to do was to be an outline design. I quickly transferred the design and took up my outlining tool for work.

It slipped, and would not enter the smooth surface, and as I pressed harder, what was my dismay to find an ugly uneven scratch, and I saw that instead of a true polish, there was a thick coat of varnish covering the wood. No carving could be done till that was removed, and how to do it was the question.

Wood alcohol would dissolve the varnish, but on mahogany it leaves a white stain, so I tried sandpaper, then scraped it with a knife, but neither did the work, so, as a last resort, I tried the alcohol. This softened the varnish so it could be rubbed and scraped off, but there were the ugly white spots wherever the alcohol had touched the wood. The board seemed to be ruined. But, I reasoned, it is solid mahogany, it can't be spoiled by that treatment, it can't really be injured by what is on the surface. So I poured on oil, and kept rubbing it in, until the white disappeared entirely and a polish, real and enduring, brought out the beautiful grain in the wood.

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A Reminiscence
April 23, 1904
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