Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Brazilian Mahogany
Mike MacDonald
>I've been offered some Brazillian Mahogany from a friend of my fathers. Most of it is 4/4 and I just wondered if anyone had used it before. How difficult is it to work, how does it finish? Generally any reactions anyone has had.
Re: Brazilian Mahogany
William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey
>That's probably the real stuff, Swietenia macrophylla, a.k.a. Honduras mahogany or bigleaf mahogany. You can't get anything better, unless you can find some Cuban mahogany. It works well, carves well, finishes well, and is very stable and resistant to rot. However, like any other wood, there is variation from tree to tree. Some of it is very hard, some has interlocking grain (which yields ribbon stripe figure when quartersawn), some has large amounts of silica which can dull tools. Every so often, you will find some that is kind of punky and stringy.
Of course, there are weasels out there who will slap a deceptive label on low grade pallet wood.
"Brazilian Mahogany" not all Swietenia *LINK*
David Barnett
>And some of it that IS Swietenia macrophylla AND comes from Brazil may be of dubious legality (CITES import restrictions). But there's a lot of grandfathered and certified stuff, too, so if it's the good stuff, and the price is right, don't ask too many questions. I love mahogany (esp. Swietenia mahogoni).
Brazilian, or "Bastard" Mahogany