jupiteruke
Well-known member
What is today referred to as ‘true mahogany’ is Central American mahogany, Swietenia macrophylla. Cuban mahogany (aka Caribbean Mahogany, aka American mahogany) Swietenia mahagoni [notice the species name mahagoni, this is the type species for mahogany] is the historical true mahogany and mostly grows in the Caribbean islands, especially Cuba. It has been planted rather extensively here in South Florida, which is the northern edge of its range. I have been on the lookout for a chance to get some Cuban mahogany, and over the weekend I was riding my bicycle around the neighborhood, and heard the chain saws running. Turns out the new owner of a house with several good sized Cuban mahogany trees was taking them out to put in a pool. I got a couple of logs, and have added Cuban mahogany to my wood stash for some future instruments.
I cut quarter-sawn billets out of the logs, seal the ends, and then re-saw (very sticky sawdust) these into plates. The plates are stickered and tied into bundles which spend some years in my 'solar dryer', aka 'the attic'. The wood is quite light in color when fresh cut but seems to darken quite a bit with some exposure to air. (Note the color of the billet vs that of freshly cut)
I cut quarter-sawn billets out of the logs, seal the ends, and then re-saw (very sticky sawdust) these into plates. The plates are stickered and tied into bundles which spend some years in my 'solar dryer', aka 'the attic'. The wood is quite light in color when fresh cut but seems to darken quite a bit with some exposure to air. (Note the color of the billet vs that of freshly cut)
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