Which country does mahogany come from

Looking again at the end section, you will see that Swietenia Mahogany displays concentric growth lines while African mahogany does not. To produce a tangential surface, the log must be cut at right angles to the radius. On such a surface, the pores show as long and irregularly parallel lines with numerous very short fine dashes appearing between them when observing the wood under a magnifying glass.

These are the end views of the pith rays. In American Mahogany they are staggered. Mahogany is less liable to warping, shrinking, swelling, and twisting than other woods.

This is because of its unusual resistance to moisture and atmospheric changes. Mahogany does not move — it holds its shape. Because of the size of the Mahogany tree, it produces incredibly clear large pieces. Although most people may recognize the distinctive figure of Mahogany — its crotches, swirls, and stripes — often observed on table tops, the majority of trees do not run to figure. In fact, most Mahogany logs are comparatively straight-grained.

This is much more suitable for structural applications. Additionally, Mahogany logs are distinguished by a total absence of the alternate rings of dense and less dense wood which characterizes many other woods. In the efficiency with which it can be mortised, bored, shaped, and turned, Mahogany has been given the highest rating amount all woods which might be available. Mahogany is particularly resistant to rot, mold, and pother organisms of decay, both with respect to the atmosphere and with the soil.

This makes it an excellent wood for any use in tropics, where these conditions are a constant hazard. In addition, it is almost completely immune to then furniture beetle, which frequently known to destroy other woods, and is likewise highly resistant to the attack of drywood termites. In fact, once the wood is cut from the log, it can be properly kiln dried in a minimum time without wastage.

Mahogany from Central America shows extremely low overall shrinkage with regards to volume and dimensions during the drying, but what truly makes it the best for keeping shape is the close to ratio of radial measured in the direction between the center of the tree and the bark to tangential measured in the direction of the circumference shrinkage.

The wood has a natural affinity for modern finishes, compounding further advantages as the finish seals the wood in order to further unsure its resistance to moisture and temperature changes.

In this respect, Mahogany is outstanding — its texture takes and holds finishes unusually well. Mahogany is exceptionally strong for its weight, outranking any of the woods that could possibly substitute it as a medium weight wood in structural applications. Anderson, J. Boston: Harvard University Press. Aronson, J. The New Encyclopedia of Furniture. New York: Crown Publishers. Bridgewater, S. Liverpool: Rockliff and Son.

Lamb, F. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Lamb, G. The Mahogany Book. Other historic common names for Cuban mahogany are Caribbean mahogany, West Indian mahogany and Santo Domingo mahogany. With the dwindling supplies of Cuban mahogany, a close relative, Honduras mahogany Swietenia macrophylla , called genuine mahogany, big-leaf mahogany and true mahogany today, became the desired species.

This wonderful wood has been severely harvested both for timber and to create pasture lands so supplies from natural forests in many areas are limited or unavailable.

With restrictions on the sale of lumber from this species in some countries, when land clearing occurs, the trees will be burned rather than harvested. However, plantations have been established both within and beyond its natural range; these plantations promise some of this wood for the future.

This wood has many different names, including names in English, French, Spanish, German, Portugese, and other European languages. Special note: Consumers can support mahogany conservation by buying mahogany products that carry the Forest Stewardship Council trademark.

FSC-certified wood comes from forests that are managed in accordance with FSC's internationally endorsed principles and criteria. Companies using the FSC logo on wood products have demonstrated that the timber used in their products is harvested in an ecologically and socially responsible manner from well-managed, sustainable forests.

Note that there are embargos on the legal import of this species into the U. African mahogany is in the Khaya genus. For millwork and furniture applications, the best region is the central to southern portion of South America.

Here, the wood growth is slow and wood tone is dark. Accordingly, the color is rich and consistent. Also, the lumber from this region machines better. This is due to less grain tear out than wood from faster growing regions. My theory is that the driving force behind many plantation operations are bean counters rather than lumber people. Unfortunately,few accountants outside of the industry understand lumber well.

There are dozens of reasons why a SKU of Honduras may be worth more or less than where an accountant pegs the value. Rather than lumber quality, the focus is too often on cash flow, ROI, inventory turns, political stability, etc. These are important considerations but all Genuine is not good Genuine. Mahogany MAH is one of the most common electric guitar and acoustic guitar neck woods.

Perhaps second only to maple. Gibson Brands uses mahog necks in most of their guitar builds. Even experienced woodworkers sometimes have difficulty distinguishing Honduras from African. This is because characteristics of each specie overlap. Unlike Okoume lumber , which has similar grain but a pinkish color tone, African Mahogany has a brown color tone, like Honduran.

Granted, most lumber buyers can spot really nice Honduras when compared to really bad Khaya. That is easy. That is when the lines begin to blur. First, weight is not a reliable way of distinguishing African from Genuine. In my experience, one specie is not significantly lighter than the other. As with White Limba and Swamp Ash board weight and density varies dramatically from region to region.

It has more to do with soil composition and tree growth rates than the wood specie. Spanish Cedar is significantly lighter than both Mahoganies.

Genuine Mahog grain tends to be fine, slight and uniform. African Mahog grain is usually more open, erratic, and inconsistent. African Mahog tends to have more figured grain. It can have ribbon luster , undulating roped or chatoyant grain. Genuine rarely exhibits wild figure. Color is not the best indicator for this specie comparison. The listing of bigleaf mahogany includes only populations in the Neotropics. Today most plantations are located in Indonesia and Fiji. Historically, plantation-grown wood has not been common in trade.