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Qualities of Mahogany

Mahogany has been a favorite wood of furniture makers and carpenters since the 16th century. Because the demand for mahogany has made it scarce, some woods are referred to as mahogany but aren't actually, like Philippine mahogany and yellow meranti, which really belong to the shorea genus. Real mahogany is from Africa or the American tropics of the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America. Both trees are members of the family meliaceae. African mahogany is part of the genus Khaya and American mahogany is Swietenia.

African Mahogany
- African mahogany is found in central and east Africa. It's a large tree with a straight trunk that can grow unbranched for 98 feet above the ground -- the entire tree can grow to 164 feet tall. The heartwood ranges from tan to deep reddish brown and has a straight or interlocked grain. African mahogany weighs 34 to 36 pounds per cubic foot. The wood of the species Khaya Anthotheca bends fairly easily but other species of this genus don't bend as well. It also expresses chatoyancy, which means it shows bands of bright light when certain finishes like shellac are applied.
American Mahogany
- The American mahogany tree grows to about 100 feet tall and is usually an evergreen. The larger branches are often preferred over the trunk because of the beauty of their grain. The heartwood is light to dark reddish brown to a deep red, and the grain is straight. American mahogany has low bending strength but dries well and quickly.
Properties
- African mahogany also dries quickly without much shrinkage. The heartwood is fairly durable but resists preservative treatment. African mahogany is somewhat difficult to cut and instruments might be blunted by it if they're not sharp. But the wood takes nails, screws and gluing well and is used for furniture and cabinet making, boat building, turnings and veneers.
  
  American mahogany is easier to work with than African mahogany and also takes screws, nails and glue well. It further takes stains and polish very well. American mahogany is used for high end furniture and cabinetry, pianos, coffins, boat interiors and decorative veneers.
Examples
- Mahogany was a favorite of the 18th century Scottish American cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe because of its beautiful color and grain. He even used mahogany veneer on mahogany furniture. His contemporaries, Thomas Chippendale, Thomas Sheraton and George Hepplewhite, also worked mostly with mahogany; beautiful examples abound of their mahogany wood block fronted bureaus, secretaries with kettle bases, card tables, mahogany framed sofas and china cabinets. The "cottages" of Newport, Rhode Island are enhanced by touches of mahogany, like the spindlework mahogany screen in the dining room of Kingscote, and the mahogany sliding doors of the morning room at the Breakers.

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