Mahogany

[Bobby Slack]

I went to my lumber supplier in Los Angeles (Bohnhoff Lumber) and ended up buying a book World of Woods (is the book they look for references), so we start speaking about real and "fake" mahogany. Bob Lang in his book mentions that the real mahogany that the Greene's used in their projects is no longer available ...

So I took a field trip and took samples of ...

Honduras Mahogany (American Mahogany) - Sapele Flat Sawn and Sapele Quarter Sawn - African Mahogany - Makore.

If you put all these pieces side to side, frankly I will tell you that they are all mahogany.

This drove me to find out what was the balance of price point, Grain, Stain, Durability, Machine Friendly, Edges, yield, etc.

So here is the question ...what are the features we look on a piece of wood?

[Guest Mahoganus]

I went to my lumber supplier in Los Angeles (Bohnhoff Lumber) and ended up buying a book World of Woods (is the book they look for references), so we start speaking about real and "fake" mahogany. Bob Lang in his book mentions that the real mahogany that the Greene's used in their projects is no longer available ...

So I took a field trip and took samples of ...

Honduras Mahogany (American Mahogany) - Sapele Flat Sawn and Sapele Quarter Sawn - African Mahogany - Makore.

If you put all these pieces side to side, frankly I will tell you that they are all mahogany.

This drove me to find out what was the balance of price point, Grain, Stain, Durability, Machine Friendly, Edges, yield, etc.

So here is the question ...what are the features we look on a piece of wood?

This is a cool post.

I have a piece of so called Genuine Mahogany and I have some African Mahogany. Both look the same but the genuine Mahogany weighs twice as much if not more and when I cut on it,, its harder to cut,, but both cut really nice. I have never got to play with any other Mahogany.

[iSawitFirst]

First off, I'm a hobbyist. The features I look for are limited to color and grain pattern. I stay away from woods with high silica content as there are so many others to choose from. Price point rarely is a factor. I'm sure others have a larger list.

[Bobby Slack]

Hobbyist or pro, the amount of time we put in our projects and love, outweighs the exta 1.00 per BF. But then we have Teak! 20 bucks a bf versus 6 if you use Iroko ... that is major. You turned me on to Iroko.

First off, I'm a hobbyist. The features I look for are limited to color and grain pattern. I stay away from woods with high silica content as there are so many others to choose from. Price point rarely is a factor. I'm sure others have a larger list.

[iSawitFirst]

You're right. I think that was the only time price has come into play for me. I saved over $1000.00 going with Iroko and it still looks fantastic two years later.

[timmahoney34]

I just finished a cabinet that doubles as a step and folding table. I also used iroko and happy with the results. Once it's finished it will look nice in the sail boat cabin that it was designed for.

[Bobby Slack]

I have a hole collection of wood pieces that I can get fast for outdoor projects. My next project is to make four gates made out of cypress.

The idea is to experiment and see if I can make stuff at a low enough price to motivate customers to invest on a new gate, new front door, etc.