What timber is this

Timbuck

Timbuck

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I have had no experience with Brazilian mahogany, so I can't entirely discount that possibility, but the pictured sample looks very much like one of the many Asian 'mahoganies' or Merantis.
 
I'm certainly no expert Ken, but it looks like African Mahogany (Khaya) to me. I have some very similar which I bought as just "mahogany".
 
I have heaps of Brazilian mahogany and none of it would be that light a color except perhaps when it just came off the saw. Within a day it will start to oxidise to a brick red brown.
 
It is very difficult to just look at a picture of a piece of wood and identify it. That being said I think that yes, it looks a lot like a piece of Swietenia macrophylla also called Honduran mahogany or Brazilian mahogany. Below are some picture of some "Brazilian" mahogany.

honduran-mahogany1.jpg honduran-mahogany-sealed.jpg
 
I have some neck blanks that were advertised as American Mahogany, I asked about it to people more knowledgeable than myself. They said that was probably plantation grown stuff in Brazil. It does look kind of like what you have.
 
I think it's Khaya too, but not sure. Looks like it though, I've had it before and it's quite similar to your picture.
 
Bill1 said:
It looks like uke building timber.

Just as a suggestion and for some entertainment, can you find a way to get it DNA tested? You can get human DNA tested for a relatively low price, will it work for wood? Maybe the DNA is all gone, but it would be an interesting activity to find out.
Click to expand...

Crikey, what a crackin' good idear!
 
Richard_R11 said:
I think it's Khaya too, but not sure. Looks like it though, I've had it before and it's quite similar to your picture.
Click to expand...

This is what the experts say about telling the difference:

Identification: As mentioned previously, the wood of African Mahogany features an endgrain that is, for the most part, absent of any discernible annual or seasonal growth rings. Though the color of the wood can gradually change color through different seasons, Khaya species usually (rare exceptions do exist) lack the marginal parenchyma that are so common in Swietenia species (see the endgrain scan of African Mahogany to contrast the relatively bland endgrain with the clearly delineated growth boundaries of the Honduran Mahogany endgrain sample shown further up).


Interlocked grain: In addition to the lack of ripple marks (explained above under Swietenia species), Khaya species also tend to have a more interlocked grain, and will exhibit more pronounced ribbon-stripe patterns, especially when quartersawn. However, as with nearly all characteristics differentiating the two genera, there are outlyers and exceptions to the rule. But taken collectively, when considering the marginal parenchyma, ripple marks, and interlocked grain, an increasingly confident identification may be made of an unknown or questionable sample.

Khaya (African mahogany)

african-mahogany1.jpg
 
DNA sampling? Are you trying to trace its family tree?

John Colter
 
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