breaking the rules?

[Jeff Bartley]

Here's the scenario: I acquired a pile of mahogany which was salvaged from a kitchen built in the seventies. It's funny to me that they used mahogany on these cabinets, they were not well made. Anyways, here's the question----I've built a shed and need to trim out the windows, build doors, window frames. Would it be a gross misuse of material to use mahogany on a shed?? Bear in mind this wood has nail holes, etc.
Originally I planned to use white oak salvaged from pallets but this mahogany is likely to be much, much more stable than anything I could get from pallets!
Anyone here use mahogany outdoors? I have little experience working mahogany for all the different work I've done. Thanks! Jeff

[Steve Milito]

Would it be a gross misuse of material to use mahogany on a shed?? Bear in mind this wood has nail holes, etc.


No more so than using salvaged brick to build an outhouse. :p

[david brum]

I know someone with a '70s era house with painted mahogany siding. Of course it isn't real mahongany like you'd see in fine furniture. It looks more like Luan or Meranti, some sort of Philippine hardwood which somewhat resembles mahogany. The stuff is full of natural toxins ( just get the dust on your skin!) and seems to hold up fine for outdoor use, kind of like cedar.

Those kitchen cabinets are probably made of similar stuff. I'd vote for using it. Just be careful when you cut it, as the dust really is nasty.

[Keith Outten]

Wealthy people often use Mahogany for home building exterior applications. Given its use in the marine industry is a testimony concerning its superior weather resistant abilities. One of our local General Contractors recently built a million dollar water front garage that had an all mahogany exterior. His Garage-Mahall as it was called by the tradesmen who built it was a very impressive structure he built for his son that included a half court basketball court, imax theater, state of the art game room, etc.
:)

[Julie Moriarty]

It depends on the condition of the mahogany. You said there are nail holes, etc. If the wood looks really beat up and you don't like the stressed look in furniture, I'd say go for it.

[Jeff Bartley]

This mahogany does look a lot like luan........I've literally never worked real mahogany so I guess I don't even know what it is!

[David Weaver]

I'd use it in the absence of something more appropriate to outdoors (presuming it's not genuine mahogany) - like cedar. Even if it's mahogany, it's still salvage wood. It's not like it's Bois de Rose or something.

[David Kumm]

Genuine ( Honduran as Cuban is no more) is used for exterior but the others, Luan, Meranti, Brazilian used for flooring, and African, are not great for that. Still, if cheap it will last for quite a while. Will move around some as none of the "other mahoganies" are as stable. Dave

[Mel Fulks]

Some time back ,15 or 20 years ago? Honduras mahogany was cheap for while ,3 dollars a foot? Anyway ,about the same price of white pine ,so everyone was using it for exterior paint grade raised panels etc because it was available in wide boards. At the same time almost no one would buy it for cabinets ,whenever I recommended it to a client as an unusual bargain they wold ask,"if its so good why is it so cheap?"Sold very little until the price went up again. There is no way to know if the mahogany you have is ' good' without knowing what it cost.....but I would use it anyway.

[Tai Fu]

I don't know how to describe it but Lauan/Meranti gives me the feeling that it was made of compressed paper... it did not feel substantial and extremely splintery. The texture is also very rough (in contrast to say Sapele it was very dense and substantial as well as hard)... that's just from all the 1x1 pieces of Lauan that is available as construction wood in Taiwan... I really hate the wood.

[Jeff Bartley]

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna use it.....I keep coming back to the point that it's here and it won't cost me anything! But I would love to know exactly what it is. If anyone is confident they can ID it I'd be happy to ship a piece of it.....it's too bad it would be so costly to ship to Taiwan....Tai--you've described this stuff very well! It's not very dense or hard. Lucky for me I'll be using on my own building so if it falls apart in a couple years I'll just tear it off and put something else up!

[Andrew Hughes]

Post a pic and give us a lookie.Everybody liks ID this wood threads.At one of the wood supplers i go to they have three different woods they call mah.

[Julie Moriarty]

Post a pic and give us a lookie.Everybody liks ID this wood threads.At one of the wood supplers i go to they have three different woods they call mah.
and wipe some mineral spirits on before taking the pic. That should help in identifying it.

[Peter Quinn]

Mahogany is a fine choice for exterior work, it holds paint well, insects don't like it, it holds fasteners reasonably well but its easy to work for a hardwood. Its used around here for lots of exterior trim on very fine homes, not the cheapest choice in todays market if you had to pay for it, but as a recycled product, I'd consider it a nice boon. It really likes stainless fasteners much like cedar, it has a high acid content that will lead to iron stains and corroded fasteners even with galvanized fasteners. So I say use it as you choose...you will have the nicest shed in the neighborhood.

[Richard Wagner]

Some time back ,15 or 20 years ago? Honduras mahogany was cheap for while ,3 dollars a foot? Anyway ,about the same price of white pine ,so everyone was using it for exterior paint grade raised panels etc because it was available in wide boards. At the same time almost no one would buy it for cabinets ,whenever I recommended it to a client as an unusual bargain they wold ask,"if its so good why is it so cheap?"Sold very little until the price went up again. There is no way to know if the mahogany you have is ' good' without knowing what it cost.....but I would use it anyway.

If it is expensive then it is good...is that what you are saying?? I don't think so.

[Curt Harms]

If it is expensive then it is good...is that what you are saying?? I don't think so.

I think Mel is saying the perception is that if something is not expensive, it's not good. I see that every now and again.;)

[David Meade]

From a house trimmed in the seventies it is probably Virola, it won't stand up well outside.

[Larry Fox]

The way I look at it, it's your wood - do with it what you wish. I was making some drawers the other day and was running a bit short on maple so I grabbed a piece of pretty well figured BEM and was completely prepared to cut it up to make a drawer side until I realized I would be short of material even with it. Switched to cherry which I happen to have a bunch of. Point being, don't get too wound around the axle over this sort of thing.

Using a piece of BEM for a drawer might seem wasteful but if you count the time, gas, etc to jump in the truck and go get a piece of regular maple -- that piece of BEM is looking a awful lot like a drawer side to me. :)