10 Varieties of Mahogany Wood for Your Next Project

Mahogany is a common assortment of hardwood that is wonderful for novices because it is effortless to function with even though remaining powerful adequate to use for furniture and other objects. It is effortless to find and inexpensive, but because there are a number of varieties, numerous rookie woodworkers are not positive what variety they should get or what the distinctions are. Keep studying as we appear at the distinct varieties and inform you about them so you will know what you are hunting at subsequent time you pay a visit to the components keep.

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10 Varieties of Mahogany Wood for Your Next Project

True Mahogany

1. African Mahogany

Usability: Moderate

African mahogany can also go by the identify Khaya mahogany, and it is indigenous to the African rainforest. It has a special grain that displays rays rather of rings. Even now, the interlocking grain is coarse and weighty, so numerous woodworkers decide on a different range even although it’s frequently considerably less pricey.


2. Big Leaf Mahogany

Usability: Good

Large leaf mahogany is the range that you will most likely locate for sale in America. It is a lightweight wooden that resists rot with out sacrificing toughness or visual appeal, and it is a good choice when you prepare to paint or stain. The draw back of this range is that Brazil and Bolivia just lately have been restricted from logging large leaf mahogany trees, leaving only Peru, which has previously employed up much more than half its trees. As a result, the usability of this assortment is most likely to decrease as the cost boosts.


3. Cuban Mahogany

Usability: Poor

Cuban mahogany is a Spanish variety that was very well-known for many many years with European settlers because of to its dark coloration and resistance to rot, generating it a excellent selection for constructing boats. Even so, more than-harvesting wiped out complete forests of this selection, and it is at the moment quite unusual, so it is not likely that you will be able to decide on Cuban mahogany for your subsequent task.


4. Honduras Mahogany

Usability: Poor

You will locate Honduras mahogany expanding in Mexico and Central The us. It is a popular range because of to its deep shade, and numerous woodworkers like to use it for musical instruments thanks to its resonant houses. Nevertheless, in excess of-harvesting has caused the amount of these trees to dwindle substantially, and they are now an endangered variety, so you will not probably be ready to pick Honduras mahogany for your following venture.

False Mahogany

5. Spanish Cedar

Usability: Good

Spanish cedar is a gentle wood, so it won’t have the durability that you can count on from true mahogany. Nonetheless, it provides the woodworker with comparable colour, and it’s simple to work with, so a lot of folks like it. Spanish cedar is also resistant to termites and rotting, generating it a great decision for household furniture, specifically if it will devote time outside the house.


6. Sapele

Usability: Good

A wonderful option to mahogany is sapele, which appears, feels, and acts like true mahogany at a decrease expense, producing it extremely popular with woodworkers. Regrettably, like a lot of mahogany trees, overharvesting is using its toll on sapele numbers. They are at present a vulnerable selection and may possibly turn into tougher to uncover.


7. Sipo

Usability: Good

Sipo trees have a darkish brown wooden that resembles the deep red of mahogany. The wood also has little flecks that can lead to it to sparkle. Woodworkers typically use this variety to create musical instruments, and sipo is also a well-liked furnishings wooden.


8. Lauan

Usability: Good

Lauan is a tree that you can uncover in the Philippines with many of the traits of mahogany. Because it seems to be so comparable, you can locate American marketplaces labeling lauan as Philippine Mahogany, which is incorrect and deceptive.


9. East Indian Mahogany

Usability: Good

East Indian mahogany is a bogus mahogany that provides the consumer with a dim-brown wood perfect for generating furniture, molding, and other objects that normally use mahogany. It is also less complicated to locate and much less pricey, so ask the retailer clerk if they have it the next time that you check out the lumber garden.


10. Royal Mahogany

Usability: Good

You may discover folks contacting the royal mahogany a crabwood or andiroba. It offers the user with a reddish-brown wooden that seems like mahogany and is just as straightforward to cut and condition. It is incredibly sturdy, and you can even use it for flooring, making it a single of the far more flexible fake mahoganies.

Are There Other Substitutes for Mahogany?

Cherry wooden is an excellent substitute for mahogany, specifically in The us, in which it grows natively. It is a tiny more difficult to minimize and shape due to the fact cherry is a more difficult wooden, but that also helps make it much more sturdy, offering your initiatives a for a longer time shelf lifestyle.

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Summary

While mahogany, specially huge leaf mahogany, has been a well-liked choice for novice and seasoned woodworkers for hundreds of a long time, in excess of-harvesting has diminished each and every variety of mahogany trees to dangerously low quantities. Wooden from these trees is becoming more challenging to locate and considerably more high-priced, so you may possibly require to pick 1 of the bogus mahoganies, like East Indian or royal mahogany. When selecting wood for your subsequent undertaking, you can also try cherry, which is similar and grows natively in the United States.


Featured Picture Credit: Yura Borson, Shutterstock

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