potassium dichromate on sapele

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Working on yet another cellarette, this one with a fair amount of maple stringing.  I saw a comment that potassium dichromate can be used on mahogany without affecting the color of the stringing.    Since the reaction is with the tannic acid, and maple has little, I suspect this is true.

Before trying this, does anyone have any experience with this approach?   

And, yes, I am acquainted with the hazards of hexavalent chromium.  I recall removing some especially stubborn something from lab glassware back in organic chem 2, using a solution of 98% sulfuric acid and potassium dichromate.  It worked, but was scary to use.  

Carey Mitchell

I've used potassium dichromate on mahogany & cherry several times. It's very effective. I've tried it on several other woods (including maple I think). I wouldn't say the result is absolutely zero change but it is really mild. Id recommend trying this out on a sample piece and see if you are satisfied. I expect you will be.
Carey,

I will be following along.  Please post progress pics

Petey

Forgot to update this.
It worked !  In fact, it worked much better than expected.  

The result: 


Carey Mitchell

I saw your project post and I had not connected it with this topic. Yes, it did work out exceptionally well.
Nice work!  Thanks for the update.  So much of the sapele I see looks faded or washed out.  I'm going to keep this in mind to try.
Rob used to use it all the time, and it has a great effect, with almost zero work. His use was Cherry, and Mahogany, as he is all about Federal.