The mahogany that all that 18’th and 19’th century furniture, and those early mahogany instruments, were made from is Cuban Mahogany (aka Caribbean Mahogany, aka American mahogany) Swietenia mahagoni. [Notice the species name mahagoni, this is the type species for mahogany] It is supposed to be great wood, however due to over harvesting true Cuban mahogany has not been available except in very small special circumstances. What is today referred to as ‘true mahogany’ is Central American mahogany, Swietenia macrophylla. Cuban mahogany mostly grows in the Caribbean islands, especially Cuba. It has been planted rather extensively here in South Florida, which is the northern edge of its range. I have been on the lookout for a chance to get some Cuban mahogany, and over the weekend I was riding my bicycle around the neighborhood, and heard the chain saws running. Turns out the new owner of a house with several good sized Cuban mahogany trees was taking them out to put in a pool. I got a couple of logs, and have added Cuban mahogany to my wood stash for some future instruments.
Sizing things up
cutting
Cutting down through a log the long way (as opposed to crosswise making firewood) produces great quantities of fluffy excelsior-like sawdust so when you are done you have a bunch of small useless edge pieces, and large piles of what I’m turning into mulch.
The result, quarter-sawn Cuban Mahogany billets. I’ll cut these into sides and backs on the bandsaw.
