shaneymack Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Last week i bought 60 bd ft of genuine magogany. Three boards are 8/4 and one board is 10/4. The boards were rough when i bought them so colour matching was impossible. Needing map out my parts i gave them a quick swipe with the LAJ and sanded a bit with my random orbit sander. The three 8/4 boards look quite different from the 10/4 board. I need some opinions from you guys that are familiar with magoganies. Is the 10/4 board possibly another species or is it possible there is this much variation in grain and colour from one tree to the next? Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 You get a big fat F on the test that you took after reading Eric's post about Mahogany. It clearly stated that they can be very different in color and grain from tree to tree in the same species. Having said that, I have no clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 The middle board in the bottom picture looks more rift or quartersawn. The outside boards look plain sawn. That would explain the grain differences. Close ups of the end grain sanded to a high grit would help. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 The middle board in the bottom pic looks like santos mahogany, not a true mahogany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 The middle board in the bottom pic looks like santos mahogany, not a true mahogany. I really hope you are wrong. The lumber yard called me today and said they will let me bring back the boards that dont match and let me find ones that match. Very nice of them. He told me they are all genuine mahogany. I will probably return the 3 8/4 boards and get three of the 10/4. It would really suck to pay 13.50$ a bd ft for santos. They are a really reputable lumber yard. I can only take their word for it. I know nothing about mahogany, just that i want to build something out of it. Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 I really hope you are wrong. The lumber yard called me today and said they will let me bring back the boards that dont match and let me find ones that match. Very nice of them. He told me they are all genuine mahogany. I will probably return the 3 8/4 boards and get three of the 10/4. It would really suck to pay 13.50$ a bd ft for santos. They are a really reputable lumber yard. I can only take their word for it. I know nothing about mahogany, just that i want to build something out of it. Sent from my SGH-I337M using TapatalkI too hope I'm wrong, but it definitely looks like santos. I made several projects with that wood, it's a PITA to work with, but you can get good results out of it if you're really really really patient! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 I don't think you can accurately ID mahogany by looking at face grain alone.Well maybe not in a vacuum. But if you give me a piece of Honduran mahogany and a piece of African mahogany and ask me to tell you which one is which, I would easily be able to do that.The problem is that there are a number of faux species, several of which look fairly similar to Honduran (I personally don't think African looks all that similar), and then the variability within the Honduran species itself. There are plantations all over South America and the lumber can certainly vary in color from region to region based purely on the geography. Even two trees cut from the same plantation can look different, and even two boards from the same tree...and believe it or not, two ends of the same board. It's happened to me.Then add in the change in grain and texture based upon the way the board was sawn...and the low-res pictures...yeah, not exactly cut and dry what Shane has there.You would assume what's in the Honduran bin at the yard is actually Honduran, but lumberyards are run by humans and humans make mistakes. Perhaps they received a shipment of utile and the numskull running the forklift that day didn't know the difference and shoved it in the wrong bin. Or perhaps they have stock from several different shipments from several different mills. You never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 The middle board in the bottom pic looks like santos mahogany, not a true mahogany. but dang does it smell amazing when you cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I'm thinking they're all poplar from different trees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denette Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 ;) In all seriousness, a good clear picture of some end grain could help a lot in distinguishing the species. I just got the hardcover copy of the reference from the guy who runs the Wood Database and I'd love to test it by trying to ID your lumber! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 In all seriousness, a good clear picture of some end grain could help a lot in distinguishing the species. I just got the hardcover copy of the reference from the guy who runs the Wood Database and I'd love to test it by trying to ID your lumber!I am going to the lumberyard today to exchange the pieces that don't match. Maybe when i get back i will post a pic. On second thought, maybe i don't want to find out its not genuine mahogany. Ignorance is bliss..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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