Mahogany: What the Heck is it?

I was reading about Brazilian mahogany on the forum the other day and that had me scrambling to find out what the heck it is. Turns out "Brazilian" mahogany is the same wood as "Honduras" mahogany. Both are Swietenia macrophyla. "Cuban" mahogany is different. Swietenia mahogany or "true mahogany". Below is a great graphic sorting it out. Courtesy of Wood Database.



for more information go here:

https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/mahogany-mixups-the-lowdown/

Well it's nice to know that i'm in the three middle areas and Spanish cedar is mahogany as well.

There are a few more Australian mahoganies as well.
Including :
Rose mahogany. Dysoxylum fraserianum
Red mahogany, Eucalyptus resinifera OR Eucalyptus pellita
Western mahogany Eucalyptus diversicolor, which I buy as Karri


The fact that Australian red cedar, Toona ciliata, which isn't a Cedar or even a conifer is in the orange area but isn't called mahogany is just a little mind boggling.

If you think that's bad you should see how many Oaks we have.

As settlers moved into new parts of the world they often gave old names to new species they encountered. Marketers have also muddied the waters by making up their own names. Scientific names can provide more clarity but they are no fun to use and they make their champions sound like snobs.

I've just negotiated the purchase of 7 cubic ft or 84 bd ft of swietenia machrophylla that has been in the country for over 30 years. This is non-plantation - and we need to make the distinction here - non-plantation has a tighter 'grain' structure (where grain refers to growth and not figure) than the swift growing plantation FSC South American varieties that are entering the UK today.

FYI - Cuban mahogany that I see today is not like the cuban I have used in the past. About 15 years ago I bought a board of Cuban on eBay for next to nothing and it was that chocolate/brick red hue with white flecks/inclusions in the pores that is the macro visual identifier for this wood. I'm unsure that Ken's wood is actually Cuban... though I know that all wood is individual, non more so than koa which is so varied that it can have the appearance of mahogany! The cuban I have used has never displayed the challenges catalogued here by Ken.. but hey, I haven't seen it IRL.

Further FYI _ The Khaya varieties are very varied. I've just cut some that could be mistaken for 'Spanish Cedar' and another billet that was like the gnarliest African Utile you could buy.

And remember 'Sapele' is the port from where that particular variety was shipped -a common practise...and at one time, because of the spiral growth that creates the 'stripes' in the quartered face, this wood was considered unsuitable for necks because it was 'unstable.

All of this is of course baloney to us who use wood every day and cope with the individuality that each piece presents.

It certainly makes it tough that some instruments may be advertised as mahogany, but you don't know what you are truly getting.

Most mahogany on the market these days is Sapele mahogany

Pete Howlett said:

chocolate/brick red hue with white flecks/inclusions in the pores that is the macro visual identifier for this wood.

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That describes this wood exactly Pete

IMG_3384 by Ken Timms, on Flickr

hoosierhiver said:

Most mahogany on the market these days is Sapele mahogany

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Yes or some other more or less related African species like Khaya or Utile/Sipo or others from the orange area in the diagram. I think that only small builders with a private stash can still use macrophylla.

I'm having a solid body bass uke being made in South Africa by Brian Fanner with African mahogany, nice to know it's in the yellow section. He says it's a little lighter color, which I like since I have a classic mahogany color bass uke, the Gold Tone ME. Here's a sample I found online of African mahogany, and the ME bass.

---

This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
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merlin666 said:

I think that only small builders with a private stash can still use macrophylla.

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Actually Swietenia macrophylla or "Honduran" or "Brazilian" mahogany is common and quite available, sometimes quite cheaply. At least here in America. Quality varies. Now Swietenia mahogany or "Cuban" mahogany is much rarer and harder to come by. Below is a billet of Swietenia macrophylla available from Stewart McDonald for $36 bucks. I've bought a number of them and the wood is very nice. Tight grained and very workable. I can get two, one piece necks out them. Unfortunately there is a lot of waste which bothers me. It just galls me to use mahogany as kindling in my wood stove.

You won't get this in the UK.

How I get my Cuban - From a neighbors yard, with a chain saw in South Florida

jupiteruke said:

How I get my Cuban - From a neighbors yard, with a chain saw in South Florida

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Even though I can't build anything with it. I'd have to send it to a someone who could.
I'll have to study some pics of what it looks like and stay on the look out

The gray pods of Cuban mahogany, which persist most of the year, and the small compound leaves, with the central vein off-center make ID pretty easy. There are some pretty nice ones planted along the dividers in the older Home Depot parking lot!

jupiteruke said:

The gray pods of Cuban mahogany, which persist most of the year, and the small compound leaves, with the central vein off-center make ID pretty easy. There are some pretty nice ones planted along the dividers in the older Home Depot parking lot!

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Thanks for the info. I'm right at the edge of where Royal Palm Beach starts.
Not too far from Wellington. I guess you could say I'm in West-West Palm Beach.
I will definitely be on the look out.

I am in Jupiter. Check out the trees in the Home Depot parking lot on Northlake Blvd. immediately east of 95.

jupiteruke said:

I am in Jupiter. Check out the trees in the Home Depot parking lot on Northlake Blvd. immediately east of 95.

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Ah, that's over by the Costco we go to. I'll for sure check it out next time I'm over that way.