Major Honduran Mahogany Gloat

[Tim Malyszko]

Just a few minutes ago, I went to Hibdon Hardwoods to pick up a few scraps for the inlay I may do on my humidor. Hibon is about a mile from our office. While I was there buying my $1.30 worth of scraps, a pallet of Mahogany caught my eye - $4/BF - 10% off if you purchase the whole pallet.

All the wood on it was ramdom widths between 3" and 10" and lengths of 2' and 5' - all 4/4 with a few 1/2 thick pieces thrown in. I asked how many BF are on the pallet and he estimated around 57 BF. I said I need to go home and see if I can find space for it and will be back Monday if I want it. He then said that if I purchase it, he would thrown in the 2nd pallet also. I could not resist and at this price, I will find room.

Anyway, it filled up my entire truck bed. I'm guess there are at least 100 BF of Honduran Mahogany there, but it could be as much as 150 BF. I ended up paying $248 with tax for the entire lot, which works out to less than $2.50/BF for genuine Honduran Mahogany.:D I can't even buy Hard Maple or Walnut that cheap.

This stuff is perfect for me since I only have a 6" jointer, which means I rip most of my stock down anyway.

[Prashun Patel]

I hate you. :)

[Gary Herrmann]

Nice score, Tim.

I am not driving downtown. I am not driving downtown...

[Jacob Mac]

Wow, nice score.

[glenn bradley]

I also hate you . . . but I meant it in a good way.

[Joe Cunningham]

I hate you. :)

+1 :cool:

Great score!

[Brent Ring]

You definately suck! Great Score - Got any pieces you want to sell?

[Brad Wood]

+1 :cool:

Great score!

+2 ;)

nice score

[Matt Woessner]

Jackpot!! You know I don't live all that far from you if you need some storage!

[Jim Kountz]

I really dont like this guy at all.

[Tim Malyszko]

The mahogany is all unloaded and the load is just over 150 BF - about $1.60/BF.:D:eek:

[Brian Effinger]

I hate you. :)
Shawn said it all.... except, You Suck! :p :D

Seriously though, great score. :)

[Loren Blount]

Nice score,

I hear a giant sucking sound, do you hear it?

Loren

[Dave Lehnert]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/15/bill%20murray%20you%20suck.jpg

[Chris Padilla]

I don't know...you did post a pic but it doesn't really look like mahogany to me....


;)

[Mike Langford]

Yeah, Looks like pine to me....................:D


Great Grab!!!

[Dewey Torres]

Congrats Tim..nice haul(s)

[John Keeton]

Now, the pressure is on! This group will expect to see some more beautiful mahogany work from you. By the way, did you lose focus and forget to get the inlay stock???

Must have been divinely ordained as your truck wouldn't have held much more.

Great haul, from a guy who loves to score on wood deals!

[Mark Smith, too]

Hibon is about a mile from our office.

Guess we know where you'll be hanging out during lunch hour.

Great haul. We're all jealous.

[Phil Thien]

Yeah, Looks like pine to me....................:D


Great Grab!!!

LOL. But at $1.60 a BF it would still be a good deal!

[David Keller NC]

Nice score, don't dance around in the rain too much yet - "Honduran Mahogany is not Honduran Mahogany". The final worth of the material on the market place is wethere its all matched, whether there' s siginficant sapwood, and if any of it can be graded FAS, the width of the boards, and whether any of the boards are over 6' (the requirment for FAS). The density, abslute lack of any knots also greatly affects the final price. Based on you desciption, I'd say market value is about $3 a b.f. , may br less, so it sounds like you gota good deea after all is and done

[Frank Guerin]

Somebody get arope.
This sounds like one of those insider trading deals to me.

[John Sanford]

Dude, you got ripped off. The guy said he'd throw in the second pallet too, but I don't see any pallets in that truck at all. :eek:

:p

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Wow...I'd say you stole that lot....nice score!

[Rick Gooden]

I can get all the genuine honduran mahogany that you'll ever want from my supplier. I'm not in the lumber business, but it goes for $6 bf regardless of it being 4/4, 6/4, or 8/4 and you would have to come get it.

[Richard McComas]

Mark Stephens, Marketing Manager for Woodworkers Source posted this a few days ago on the Wood Magazine.


"It's looking like the supply of the much honored, craved, and loved genuine mahogany (aka Honduran mahogany, or for you fellas with a holistic approach Swietenia macrophylla) is going to tighten up very soon. And guess what will happen to the price? Rest assured it's not because the trees are disappearing. In fact, it's quite the opposite.



Here's what's happening. Because mahogany is a protected species, exporters of the timber have to get their loads certified as "non-detriment," otherwise they're not allowed to ship. Without arguing the nuances of the rules, you can clearly see that there are organizations and individuals looking out for the longevity of the species. I think, in general, that's a good thing.



Well . . . Bolivia, the country with the best and most plentiful supply today, didn't get its piece of paper for mahogany exports this year, even though there are bajillions* of board feet ready to go right now. Add to that there's a short "shipping season" down in the jungle from July to November - that's when the rain lets up - so it's not likely that there's enough time for Bolivia to make improvements and/or clear things up to release that lumber before November.



I read about the issue at McIlvain's blog, a significant importer of mahogany:
http://www.mcilvain.com/no-bolivian-genuine-mahogany-for-2011/



Facts about mahogany that few woodworkers know: the species grows all over Central and South America. It came to be called "Honduran" or "Honduras" because a number of years ago that's where most of the best timber was coming from. But the loggers in Honduras ended that run simply by over-harvesting the trees. Since what you get here in the U.S. Doesn't come from Honduras, we can't really call the wood "Honduran" Mahogany any longer. "Genuine" is now the term.



For better or worse, no other wood can perfectly imitate genuine mahogany's combination of distinctive color, graceful grain patterns, or the joy it elicits in a woodworker who's putting the wood though a cutter or applying a finish.



There are a few woods that can be substituted and do a nice job:

African mahogany - not related to genuine, but has a very similar look, is less dense and is truthfully not as nice to work
Lyptus - the wood ought to be stained or dyed to achieve a rivaling color to genuine mahogany, and using this wood is like drinking coffee for the first time. You'll have to acquire the taste.
Sapele - my personal favorite out of the three. It works much better than the African mahogany and lyptus and it really stands on its own as a fantastic furniture wood. When it's quarter sawn, you get lovely ribbon stripe grain, too.

Check these out next time you go to your favorite lumber store".

[Harvey Pascoe]

While I don't know the price of true mahogany, swetenia macrophyla, I do know that it is outrageous, so you practically stole that lumber. But are you sure its real mahogany and not the so-called African mahogany. You can tell if it has reversing grain. Otoh, even pseudo mahoganys are going for $6-8 so you still got a deal either way.

[Harvey Pascoe]

I can get all the genuine honduran mahogany that you'll ever want from my supplier. I'm not in the lumber business, but it goes for $6 bf regardless of it being 4/4, 6/4, or 8/4 and you would have to come get it.

I doubt that, there is no mahgony exported from Honduras or any of the other Central American countries unless it is boot legged. The true maghogany species, sweitenia mahogani was practically wiped out by the boat building industry by 1980 and the tree was then protected by international agreement. Mahogany is part of the family of meliaceae that include some 15 species and has the unusual trait of cross breeding with other species. A cross breed was developed named sweitenia macrophyla, macrophylla meaning wide range of species. These were then plantation grown all over Asia and include a wide range of differing species, the wood of which is all more or less similar, especially color. They were commonly known as Phillipine mahogany in the boat building trade, but actually come from all over Asia wherever plantations were established.

Sweitenia mahogani is the only true mahogany, aka Cuban mahogany and virtually none is available as the species was all but wiped out. It grew only on Caribbean islands, predominately Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica, the wood of which is quite different from anything you've seen, but you can still see it in old English and Island antique furniture. A darker and VERY fined grained wood, it is dense and heavy, not at all like the open grained stuff you get today..

True mahogany trees produce short thick trunks usually up to about 8 feet in length before it produces numerous vertical branches, so it commonly produces a lot of short but wide boards and 24" is not uncommon. Natural forest grown of course produces longer trunks and boards, but all available mahogany today is plantation grown in Asia from hybrids. The vertical branches are not useable for most purposes because they are reaction wood, but can be used in short lengths for small objects. I planted a true mahogany in my back yard in Ft. Lauderdale and in only 8 years it grew to a tree with a 12" trunk. An extremely messy tree( silk worms live in them exclusively), I cut it down and milled it. The wood is substantially darker than macrophylla and extremely stable.

There are street mahogani's growing in Coral Gables with trunks up to 48" in diameter. When hurricane Andrew struck, I'd hoped that some of these had blown down so I could grab the trunks. But guess what? Ever single one of them stood. Sigh.

The fact that our friend here got such narrow boards (whatever they may be) suggests they were cut from scabs, which are likely to be more reactive and why he got such a good deal. Even so, I'm not suggesting that he didn't get a good deal - he did.

[Rick Gooden]

I do understand about the genuine mahogany situation and can assure you that my supplier has the real thing. His supply, over 150,000 bf, was seized by customs a couple of years ago and then purchased by him. This has been verified to my satisfaction by a US Marshall friend in the area that investigated the buyer prior to releasing the wood. My supplier is not in the lumber business per se but sells a finished product. He generally has 1 ~ 1.5M bf of exotics under roof at any given time. He does not sell lumber to the public, but has a few woodworking friends that he allows to purchase. Because of this we are able to get woods that we ordinarily would not be able to get, we can get them in smaller quantities, and at awesome prices. I have been dealing with him for a couple of years and it sure has changed what I am able to offer to my clients. Even though the mahogany is referred to as Honduran, I think he told me it came from Peru. He also said that when he is down to 30K bf the price will skyrocket.

[Phil Thien]

His supply, over 150,000 bf, was seized by customs a couple of years ago and then purchased by him. This has been verified to my satisfaction by a US Marshall friend in the area that investigated the buyer prior to releasing the wood. My supplier is not in the lumber business per se but sells a finished product. He generally has 1 ~ 1.5M bf of exotics under roof at any given time.

Wow, that is a lot of lumber. Figuring stacks that are 5' wide by 5' high and 10' long, perfectly packed with no gaps or stickering or anything, that would 50 stacks! 1.5-million BF would be 500!

What does he sell that he stocks all that lumber? Business must be good. I've love to have a friend like that.

I once worked for a company that made high-end pool cues. Lots of exotics. But their stock was all round or small stuff and unless you made pool cues, of little value.

[Rick Gooden]

Phil,

High end flooring, worldwide. He has 5 large buildings on site. Yes, seeing that much wood is amazing.

[Harvey Pascoe]

The Honduras name applies to the stuff grown in SA. It is unquestionably nice stuff and like everyone else here I envy you.

[Bobby O'Neal]

I'm with the group. You suck. And I hate your guts. Great score.

[Frank Drew]

I doubt that, there is no mahgony exported from Honduras or any of the other Central American countries unless it is boot legged. The true maghogany species, sweitenia mahogani was practically wiped out by the boat building industry by 1980 and the tree was then protected by international agreement. Mahogany is part of the family of meliaceae that include some 15 species and has the unusual trait of cross breeding with other species. A cross breed was developed named sweitenia macrophyla, macrophylla meaning wide range of species. These were then plantation grown all over Asia and include a wide range of differing species, the wood of which is all more or less similar, especially color. They were commonly known as Phillipine mahogany

Harvey, I agree that what we call Cuban Mahogany (S. mahagoni) is the most prized Mahogany, and I believe it was much further back that the 1980s that it became unavailable, but I'd consider also S. macrophylla (i.e. big leaf) to be a true Mahogany; plantation grown in Asia or not, it certainly isn't what's called Philippine "Mahogany" (Lauan, or Meranti=Shorea spp.) as that group of woods isn't related at all.