Working African Mahogany

[Dan Mitchell]

I see Rockler is having African Mahogany on sale for $4.99/ bd./ft. I'm considering getting some for a couple end table tops, about 14 x 27 X 3/4" finished size. I've never worked this wood, so I'm wondering if it has any peculiarities I should know about before I choose it for this application.

TIA

Dan

[William M Johnson]

I am not an expert by any means, but I have used up close to 1000 bd ft of this stuff over the past year or so. I have replaced all of the yellow oak in my house with it. I made all new baseboards, casing, built-in, bathroom vanities, mantles etc.

Molder - I have chewed up some due to the grain changing directions. I have a Shop Fox/Williams & Hussey clone. Not a lot but enough that I cringe whenever I send one through. One problem is that a shop vac will not keep up with the machine. Just bought the HF 2 hp DC and I think it will make a huge difference.

Shaper - I have made about 50 raised panel doors and drawer fronts. Tearout has not been to bad considering that I had never used a shaper before. By the way it is frightening. 5" cutter spinning within 1" from your hands. I am going to try to use a fence with a zero clearance insert for the next set.

Hand Plane - Wow. Disclaimer - All tools should have a power cord, Neanders has more time than sense etc. I just built a table for church and decided to try to hand plane the glued up top because it was too big for my planer. I bought a book by Christopher Schwarz pulled out my Grandfathers old Stanley #4 got the blade scary sharp and went to work. There is a good reason those guys use these tools. I did not sand the top and it absolutly glows. I don't know how else to describe it. It is way better than sanding. I was so impressed with the process that Santa just dropped off a Lie-Neilson Low Angle Jack plane (I was a very good boy). I guess now I have to grow a beard, get some plad flannel and move to the woods.

Finish - On the wood in the house I have taken the easy way. Stain "chestnut" color, spray with Sanding Sealer then Lacquer. Sanding Sealer is great stuff almost no sanding at all and it comes out smooth as a baby's butt.
For furniture I differ from most of the guys here. I love Formby's Tung Oil. On the table for church I used the Sam Maloof finish from Rockler just to give it a try. Seems to be a lot like Formby's.

Sanding - It will need it especially if it has the stripes. I have not used a filler, just the Formby's/Maloof. Don't sand, use a plane and scraper, assuming you have time after combing your beard, rasing your free range chickens, hand pumping your water from the well etc.

I like the stuff

Bill

[Jacob Mac]

If you use hand tools, it is very prone to tear out. It has interlocking grain that can be a real pain to work. I have very limited experience with it, but if you go hand tools, think toothed blade and a scraper.

Darrel Peart uses African Mahogany a lot in his work, and he has a finishing schedule on his website that is pretty good. Might be worth a look.

[Scott Rollins]

As everyone else has said, tearout is an issue with the planer. The Byrd head I have in my jointer has no issue with tearout though. The African Mahagany wood sands easily and finishes beautifully. I use it for all of my mahagany work. I finish thickness in my drum sander and finish sand with my ROS.

[Travis Porter]

I love it. Works well, finishes well, cuts well. It is open pored so if you want a smooth top, it will need to be filled.

You might try a UPS pack from Wall lumber to get you started.

[Dan Mitchell]

Thanks for the very informative replies. Sounds like a winner. Filling was one thing I was concerned about. Can anyone elaborate on that, with particular product suggestions?

Thanks again,

Dan

[Dan Mitchell]

[QUOTE=Hand Plane - Wow. Disclaimer - All tools should have a power cord, Neanders has more time than sense etc. I just built a table for church and decided to try to hand plane the glued up top because it was too big for my planer. I bought a book by Christopher Schwarz pulled out my Grandfathers old Stanley #4 got the blade scary sharp and went to work. There is a good reason those guys use these tools. I did not sand the top and it absolutly glows. I don't know how else to describe it. It is way better than sanding. I was so impressed with the process that Santa just dropped off a Lie-Neilson Low Angle Jack plane (I was a very good boy). I guess now I have to grow a beard, get some plad flannel and move to the woods.

[/QUOTE]

I've seen that process in videos, and aside from the fact that I don't own such a plane, the idea of just whacking away like that with one scares the holy crap out of me. I just feel like I'd end up with a whole bunch of unpredictably gouged wood for my troubles. I'm getting pretty good with the corded tools, but I still can't even bring myself to burnish, let alone use, that set of scrapers I bought months ago...

[J.R. Rutter]

A lot depends on exactly what the species is. I have found Khaya (the most common variant) to be not so stable. Flatsawn especially is prone to twisting. Sapele is a dream - smells great and is harder and more stable. Ednum (not sure of spelling, but this is what my supplier calls it) is somewhere in between. I think that there are other sub species, but I have not used them knowingly. It does finish nicely and looks great.

[Robby Tacheny]

I am making a project with it now and find it great to work with. I machine planed the board to thickness and have been cleaning it up with a stanley #4. I use hardly any downlward pressure to clean bandsaw marks and it has been wonderful to work. I am using about 2 - 3 bd ft for a jewelry box. The only negative issue I have had is that the wood is prone to burning on the table saw. However, raising the blade to max height solved the issue.

I purchased the wood locally for around the same price.

Hope that helps,

-R