Cuban Woodworking shop.. photos ..

[Rick Fisher]

I just got home from Havana Cuba. Was wandering around when I saw some impressive stacks of lumber. So I took some photos ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030410_zps7492c471.jpg

I am not sure what type of wood it is .. I thought Sapelli .. but really don't know ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030411_zps1ad3b8fb.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030412_zpsdd54ed30.jpg

The workers started to pack it into a building .. there was a guard, so I asked permission to take some photo's and was surprised when I was told " a few " ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030408_zps02490379.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030406_zpsfd0fae3c.jpg

Notice the enormous machine looking like a jointer in the background ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030407_zps3a32b5a5.jpg

[johnny means]

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1030407_zps3a32b5a5.jpg

"Say hello to my little friend."

That's one beast of a jointer.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Wow I wonder if that is Cuban Mahogany, the real deal Swietenia mahogani ?

[Brian Libby]

Interesting shop. Sure is sweet looking wood!!!!! Thanks for sharing.

[John Coloccia]

That's almost certainly mahogany of some sort, but I question if it's cuban mahogany. I believe swietenia mahogani does not get much larger than maybe 3ft in diameter, and there are an awful lot of wide boards there. I could be wrong, but that's my recollection. It also looks exactly like all the honduran mahogany I use everyday, so maybe they're importing it like everyone else.

[Larry Fox]

Very cool. I'm going with Spanish cedar on the wood though.

[Ole Anderson]

On my visit to Costa Rica, there were shops with similar stacks of wood. Lots of bars had beautiful wood all over the place.

[Robert LaPlaca]

That's almost certainly mahogany of some sort, but I question if it's cuban mahogany. I believe swietenia mahogani does not get much larger than maybe 3ft in diameter, and there are an awful lot of wide boards there. I could be wrong, but that's my recollection. It also looks exactly like all the honduran mahogany I use everyday, so maybe they're importing it like everyone else.

John I have a recollection of a picture from the 19th century where a man is standing next to the most humongous piece of mahogany I ever saw, must have been 20 foot tall and maybe 4 feet wide. Of course I cannot remember were I saw the photo now, so it is just an old fisherman's big fish story..

[Andrew Hughes]

Looks like mahogany to me too.About ten years ago I saw a slab of mahogany in San Diego that was at least 12 ft long and 4 wide.The seller Mitch said he was saving it for Sam maloof to look at.He was asking10,000 for the piece.I was having pipe dreams of course.

[John Coloccia]

re: the size
Honduran mahogany (swietenia macrophylla) grows larger than Cuban. That's why I was thinking it was maybe not Cuban. Cuban, though, is a little denser, and is more stable. It may even be the MOST stable in terms of tendency to warp, because the radial and tangential expansion coefficients are nearly the same. It's a little worse for Honduran, but not bad...still considered THE prime wood for pattern makers since Cuban disappeared.

I didn't mean to imply that all types of mahogany don't grow that large. Spanish cedar was an interesting guess too.

[Rick Fisher]

I can tell you that the wood was heavy .. My recollection of spanish cedar is that its not super heavy .. Each man carried 2 -3 of the 4/4 boards and it was very clear that even those where heavy boards..

[Tom Fischer]

Probably all Cuban Mahogany.

Nature is a lot tougher than people like to admit.

[John LoDico]

I envy the fact that you got to Cuba! (Impressive looking wood!)

[Brian Kincaid]

Did everyone see the dust collector?
It was hanging on the wall (shovel)
:)

-Brian

[Jeff Monson]

Just curious Rick, why did they have a guard there?

BTW, that jointer is a BEAST

[Robert LaPlaca]

Just curious Rick, why did they have a guard there?

BTW, that jointer is a BEAST

Hey If I had a pile of Cuban Mahogany that large I would have a guard posted also...

[Jeff Monson]

Hey If I had a pile of Cuban Mahogany that large I would have a guard posted also...

If I had to live and work, where a guard was necessary for "wood thieves", I'd be moving. I know the wood has value, but a black market for mahogany is a little over the top.

[Rick Fisher]

They have guards everywhere.. Its not just about the mahogany, its about the employees, the shop, the whole enchilada .. The shop would be government owned because the country is Communist.