mahogany wood

[Jim Green]

I recently bought mahogany wood from Menards and was disappointed at the characteristics of this wood. It is almost as soft as balsa. The end grain seems impossible to sand enough to prevent too much stain absorption so it is much darker than the surface. I thought of the beautiful red mahogany furniture. Can anyone help me? Is mahogany really supposed to be this soft? How can I get the end grain to stain well? I would appreciate any help anyone can give me.

[lucky788scroller]

Theres many varieties of mahogany. Luan is sold as mahogany, and thats very soft.

[Tor]

As Dale mentioned, Mahogany covers a very large number of species. The Mahogany of fine old furnature is pretty much gone, except for reclamed lumber. There are other types available, some of them fairly hard, although I believe Mahogany is generally a softer wood than many of the exotic hardwoods.

Tor

[Forester21]

I have a chunk of Mahogany and it isn't as soft as balsa. It isn't as hard as some of the exotics, but I wouldn't say its softer than pine. I also have some old Redwood - now that is soft wood!
Theresa

[Joanna]

The mahogany I mainly work with is from South America (goes under the name Genuine Mahogany) and it is fairly soft.
I did get a piece of African mahogany a while back and it was definitely harder (more of a brownish red color VS the nice rusty red of the S. American type)

I've taken some gorgeous deep mahogany boards and ran them through the planer and they end up with a very light color. But as it ages, it usually does darken quite a bit. However, I do have few boards that just aren't darkening like some others (? maybe more sapwood than heartwood?)

[meydenhart]

As Joanna mentioned, the African mahogany is a light-brownish red, and of medium hardness - it takes stain well and looks beautiful treated with Cherry- (to bring out the red) or Walnut wood stain. It is a pleasure to cut with the scroll saw.

Jim, it sometimes helps to dilute the stain with some paint thinner before application - this way the color is not so intense and the end grain not so dark. You can always apply more coats of diluted stain to build up the color.

[24 hours? NE!]

Do you have a lumber yard nearby? I haven't been impressed with the selection of fine woods at the big box stores.

[stevebuk]

Originally Posted by meydenhart

As Joanna mentioned, the African mahogany is a light-brownish red, and of medium hardness -

also known as Sapele too..

[will8989]

My store has South African & African Mahogany and both are different. Some are light and some are more red than others, some even have a light grain that almost looks like gold. If you haven't tried Toni's STarlite pattern in mahogany, you are missing something. This is my favorite wood to cut this in and I never come home with it from a craft show. The grain in the mahogney when cut with a scrollsaw is just beautiful. This is by far my best seller. I enlarge & shrink the pattern to fit what wood I have, but the larger I make the basket the faster it sells and the more $$ I get for it. I have learned one thing, when you are making the new wooden ribbed bowls & vases, make sure you get a big enough piece of wood if you want to make a matched set, otherwise the color will be off. At my store, I can get it up to 14" wide.

Betty

[tomsteve]

that stuuf is a pleasure to work with. as for staining, i think it wood be hard to get the end grain not to be darker. end grain in almost any wood will absorb stain quicker. when trees are cut and milled, the end grain is sealed to prevent moisture from leaving the wood too quick, as that is the quickest escape for it. the end grain is kind of like small tubes that run the length of a board. it's the same way when introducing a liquid back into the wood. the liquid will suck into the end grain faster than in the face. ya might want to try sealing the end grain before staining. hope yer havin fun makin dust!!!