Hasta La Ideas

This Wood Species series of entries comes to us from guest writer Rob Wilkey, an Atlanta-based woodworker and industrial designer whose expertise is in small home goods, furniture, and large installations.

Over the next few articles, we’ll be analyzing a number of common imported wood species. This week’s featured species:

Mahogany is harvested from trees of the genus Swietenia, whose natural range is in Central and South America. The lumber of these trees is extremely popular, and has been exported throughout the world for centuries. Like cherry, mahogany is prized for its favorable working properties, as well as its durability and beautiful color. Mahogany is initially a lighter pinkish brown hue, and can darken to a rich, deep reddish-brown over time.

The wood is straight-grained, diffuse-porous, and suffers from very little shrinkage and seasonal movement. At 900lbf Janka, mahogany is soft enough to be cut and sanded quickly and easily, but is hard enough to resist dents and scratches. These properties make it an ideal lumber for every kind of woodworking. The wood also glues and stains well, and becomes even more beautiful under a good coat of finish. In fact, with a glossy finish, the wood will refract light so vibrantly that it changes shades depending on your viewing angle. This effect enhances areas of figured grain, as can be seen on the side table below, built by the talented Todd Clippinger.

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