Genuine Mahagony Price Question

[greg a bender]

I'm in NJ, I have a chance to pick up almost 300 Bd Ft of genuine 8/4 rough milled Mahogany for $1700.00.
I have seen it, it is very nice. Wide and 8' to 12' in length. It's from an old cabinet makers shop. Well seasoned, about 30 years old.
This is a local p/u, no tax no shipping.

So, I ask, is this a good deal or just an OK deal? (I know it's not a gloat deal, but is is beautiful wood!)

Thanks!

GB

[Matt Benton]

What do you mean by "genuine"? If it is Cuban (Swietenia mahagoni), it is a great deal. Any other species, and I would say not as much...

[Ashwini Kaul]

This sounds like a great deal!
Less than half the price of what it sell for in our area!!

[keith denbesten]

I'm on the left coast, and I would probably jump on it. I'm looking for about 7-800 bf. Not so easy to find here.

[Stephen Cherry]

(I know it's not a gloat deal, but is is beautiful wood!)



GB

I would say it's a gloat deal.

[Robert Waddell]

Last I knew it wholesaled here in NC for around $7 bdft for 4/4 RGH. Wide boards could be closer to $8 bdft. If you got the cash I'd say go for it.

[Frank Drew]

What do you mean by "genuine"? If it is Cuban (Swietenia mahagoni), it is a great deal. Any other species, and I would say not as much...

Cuban mahogany hasn't been commercially available for decades, but what's called genuine, or Honduras, or even South American mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla, or broadleaf mahogany) only relatively recently became difficult to get, and thus fairly expensive when you do find it. But it's a wonderful timber (if you get good stuff), and some boards I've had rivaled Cuban in color, density and hardness.

[Curtis Horswill]

That is a decent deal, I recently picked up 500 board feet for $600.00 at an auction. Of that 300 board feet is 4/4 10-12 wide and 16' long. Then there is a bunch of 10/4 and 12/4. Also mixed in was 2 pieces of African that are 16" wide and 8' long, and one wide purpleheart board. I don't ever expect to find a deal like this again.

[george wilson]

The last time I saw genuine Cuban mahogany for sale was some time after hurricane Andrew(?). A bunch of Cuban mahogany trees planted for decoration in Florida blew down.

Some guy was cutting it into lumber and selling it for about $30.00 per bd. ft. Our furniture conservation dept. in Williamsburg bought some. it was plenty hard and heavy,but the color was more like Honduras than Cuban. The Cuban I have is a dark,slightly reddish brown color. It is about as hard as ebony,and certainly doesn't float,far from it.

[greg a bender]

Thanks All!

I already bought 300 BdFt of black walnut from the same guy. He acquired all his lumber from his cabinet maker dad over 30 years ago and is now getting rid of the tools and wood. If anyone is interested, he also has a Robland X31 for sale with a ton of cutters, power feeder etc.

So, yeah, guess some Mahogany is in my future!

Gref

[Frank Drew]

The Cuban I have is a dark,slightly reddish brown color. It is about as hard as ebony,and certainly doesn't float,far from it.

The one time I've worked with Cuban, that's what struck me, how hard, and even tough, it was.

[Richard McComas]

Hearns Hardwoods in PA according to their web site has 8/4
Swietenia macrophylla for 10.50 pbf.




http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/hardwoods/pricelist/pricelist.html

Scroll down the page to the Mahogany area.

[Rick Gooden]

I generally keep around 300-400bf of genuine (mixture of 4/4,6/4, and 8/4) on hand with a solid supplier and it goes for $7-7.50 bf.

[Matt Benton]

Cuban mahogany is available...

http://www.bluemoonexoticwood.com/cuban-mahogany

[Frank Drew]

Cuban mahogany is available...

http://www.bluemoonexoticwood.com/cuban-mahogany

True; grown half a world away from its original range, but I'd still be curious to see some of Blue Moon's mahogany. Have you used any, Matt?

[Matt Benton]

Frank,

I have no experience with Blue Moon mahogany, just wanted to give the OP as much info as possible...

[Jason Varner AF]

That sure beats what this guy wants for his:
http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/mat/1979152460.html

[Frank Drew]

Jason,

I haven't added up the board feet, but that does seem like a lot of money, and I've got to say that the guy's story sounds a little bit like one of those Nigerian Lottery email scams.

Maybe I'm just having a senior moment, but I seem to remember that lot being offered, and commented on here, before, maybe a year or so ago. I like some of those sizes (2" x 18" x 111", etc.) but I can't say that the wood looks particularly interesting, at least from the pictures provided.

[Ruhi Arslan]

I've seen this wood. Mohagony actually is 6/4 not 8/4 and 20-22" wide with varying lengths (some might be 8/4). He was originally asking $9/bf. Made an offer for some of it and his dad accepted it but I was not able to pick it up at that moment. I was going to call him to arrange a good time to go back. Called and emailed him the next day to arrange. He never replied to my emails and phone calls. He also changed his posting and removed the wood from listing. I gave up on it because he didn't have the common courtesy of a simple line of quick reply after we shook hands.

P.S. His name is Greg too and his story was slightly different for me. In any case, glad it worked out for someone.

[greg a bender]

Thanks all for the information. I at first thought almost $10.00 @BdFt was high, but, now I understand. :)

This stuff is really fantastic! Very wide, long and straight.

Soon as I can arrange transport, I'm going to go get it! I'll post pictures when the deed is done.

Thanks again all,

Greg