Mahogany wall hanging clock

[Don Morris]

I just received a decent amount of Mahogany from a retiring woodworker. Also, I just finished a mock-up in poplar of a wall hanging clock from plans I got from Klockit.com. I did the mock-up because I had not done a clock before. Glad I did as there was some learning process involved. I was going to make the final in Cherry but thought why not make it out of this nice Mahogany I just received. I notice I have not seen many clocks made out of Mahogany. Is it just the price of the wood, or is there something else, like the woodworking properties, esthetics, etc. that make Mahogany not ideal for use in making clocks.

[Mel Fulks]

The cases for marine chronometers are made of mahogany. There are mahogany tall case clocks ,most of them seem to feature figured grain on the door. But you are right ,there don't seem to be as many. My guess is that since clocks are viewed from a distance mahogany's feel and look and expense were judged better used close up. As for wall clocks,they were around in some forms before the use of mahogany and some were made without wood cases. The types we most often see were getting more affordable ,but still expensive,so there was no need to run the price up with expensive wood.