<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Susan, What I was planning to do if I used dowels (which would be similar to having to stain maple) was use toner sprays to match the mahogany as closely as I could. That's pretty quick and you don't have to worry about the wood not taking stain. John Formsma Susan Kline wrote: <blockquote cite="mid5.0.0.25.2.20060120180511.01fefbf0@mail.peak.org" type="cite">At 04:30 PM 1/20/2006 -0600, James wrote: <blockquote type="cite">I would turn new ones out of mahogany wood. </blockquote> Given that the piano is subject to abuse, how about turning them out of something tougher than mahogany? By the way, I've discovered that if one has a wood like maple, which doesn't take stain well, if one stains it and then puts a very thin layer of epoxy over it all (sanded down after it sets up firm), the epoxy will stain dark as anything. No grain showing through, but it's both dark and tough, and will take varnish -- at least, mine did. sssssssnn _______________________________________________ Pianotech list info: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives">https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives</a> </blockquote> </body> </html>