Honduran mahogany

open main page for all woods open page 2 for articles

NOTE: there is rarely any "standard" or "typical" look for a wood so take what's in this table with a grain of salt
the REST of the pictures on this page will give you a better overall feel for this wood

Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla of the family Meliaceae
5" x 5" flat cut, 5" x 5" quartersawn, 3/4" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup.

Diffuse porous with large sparse pores having a thin rim of vasicentric parenchyma with marginal parenchyma delineating the growth rings. Some pore multiples are present and rays are very clear at 10X but not to the naked eye.

Also, note: Cuban Manogany (Swietenia mahagani) cannot be distinguished from Honduran mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) outside of a well equipped wood science lab

THE MAHOGANY FAMILY
a brief history of the mahoganies in the Americas plus a
discussion of the whole family and the various names used

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a plank of genuine mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. For more detail on this plank see the sample directly below.

both sides of a sample plank of genuine mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This sample was cut from the plank directly above.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

sample plank and end grain; although given the common name Honduras mahogany, this sample was listed with the botanical name Sweetenia occidentalis, a name that I do not find in reference works even when I correct the genus name to Swietenia so I'm assuming it's really Swietenia macrophylla. The color in these two pics is too green and should be more reddish brown

HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above --- color is accurate

both sides of a sample plank of Honduran mahogany /Swietenia macrophylla (listed as bigleaf mahogany). These pics have a touch too much red.

end grain and end grain closeup of the sample plank directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of curly Honduran mahogany (listed as bigleaf mahogany) / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

first face and the end grain of a sample of Honduran mahogany (listed as bay wood mahogany) / Swietenia macrophylla. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B

the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

first face and the end grain of a sample of Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B. Note that it is entirely possible that this is actually Cuban mahogany / Swietenia mahagoni, since collection B has a different sample (directly above) which is definitely Honduran mahogany and the two are not distinguishable at the level of a 10X loupe.

the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

first face and the end grain of a sample of bay wood / Swietenia macrophylla --- This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION G

the second face, before and after sanding it down a bit, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Mexican mahogany / Swietenia humilis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. See the link at the top of this page for a discussion of this species.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was sent to me for identification. The first side has been sanded and the second side has not, thus the difference in color between the two.

end grain and end HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a small piece --- HUGE enlargements are present for both these and the pics directly below. These face pics have just a hair too much red but the ones below are accurate

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

two faces of a piece of turning stock --- the light tan color is correct

end grain, end grain closeup, and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

two faces of a piece of curly Honduran mahogany turning stock

end grain, end grain closeup, and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

three bowl blanks and a closeup of the middle one

plank with a particularly good showing of the look of interlocked grain on a flat cut surface

slab --- in the enlargements you can clearly see a few sapwood wormholes, a fairly common occurance for all mahogany, in my experience.

turning sticks with a light curl that can be better seen in the enlargements

turning stick with a light curl

both sides of a plank

plank and closeup

misc planks photographed at a lumber yard

planks shot at a lumber yard, labeled "genuine" mahogany. The difference in color between the two is correct. HUGE enlargements are present.

some small planks that Mark Peet asked me to verify as American mahoganies, which I did. I've put them here on the Honduran page since it's unlikely that they are Cuban. Details of the piece on the upper left are shown directly below. I also note that they have curly figure.

both sides of a sample plank of curly Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This is the left piece in the 3-plank pic directly above and Mark contributed it to the site after I had done the ID verification.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

sticks --- the two very lightest pieces are sapwood and the piece directly above the ruler on the left has some sapwood with blue stain, as does the one two pieces above that. The darker piece (lower left) is probably from a different tree

plank and closeup both sold to me as genuine mahogany --- both go to 2nd enlargement

small block and end grain --- this was sold to me as genuine mahogany

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the small block directly above

genuine mahogany plank and end grain

end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- I completely forgot to fine sand this butt end

both side faces of a turning stick sold to me as genuine mahogany

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- sanding was rougher than I realized, thus all the scratch marks.

one section, and a closeup, of a long plank sold to me as genuine mahogany. The surface in the closeup is a particularly good example of the look of interlocked grain on a flat cut surface.

another section, and a closeup, of the same plank as directly above

a set of slats. Although these were sold to me as genuine mahogany, I think it is possible that they are Philippine mahogany. Certainly they don't show much promise of the luster you can get from genuine mahogany but are more grainy, like luan

plank with some nice curl that doesn't show up very well here (it's a little more clear in the enlargements)

both sides of a sample plank of mottled Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla. HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor has this as pomelle, but he is very unreliable in designating figure and I see this as mottled.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

gorgeous 2"-thick slab with excellent grain pattern and very rich color, shown accurately here

planks --- very light color is correct, and the sapwood (lower portion of lower plank) is also lighter than usual

planks --- I think these are probably all sapwood

planks --- the one directly above the ruler has a light curl that can be seen better in the enlargement.

a couple of cheap sticks with some sapwood that has what is most likely blue stain.

two turning sticks sold to me as genuine mahogany

both sides of a sample plank sold to me as genuine mahogany --- HUGE enlargements are present

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

a small cube of Honduran mahogany (sold to me as "genuine" mahogany) and the HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP

both sides of a crotch plank that I bought to cut up and use in my bowls

both sides of a Honduran mahogany crotch plank about 2 feet long and about 1 foot wide that was cut from the larger plank directly above --- HUGE enlargements are present.

two sections and a closeup of a long curly veneer sheet contributed to the site by Daniel Duelen, whom I thank for this and other contributions. This is a really beautiful sheet.

curly veneer sheet and closeup. This was also contributed by Daniel Duelen. Thanks Dan.

veneer with a slight red tinge

a normal-thickness veneer. This is really pretty stuff, with a beautiful honey-gold color that is accurately shown here. There is some worm-hole damage in many of the sheets that these samples came from and you can see a few of the smaller holes here.

veneer sold to me as genuine mahogany --- these pics have a bit too much pink in them (they should be more like the piece directly above)

two pieces of veneer sold to me as genuine mahogany

two ebay pics of the same top sheet, posted by the vendor who sold me the lot from which the sheets directly above came. Note the difference in color between his two pics. Neither of his pics shows the true color, but mine does.

flat cut veneer

thick veneer (about 1/12th inch) that is slightly red

thick veneer (about 1/12th inch)

veneer sold to me as Central American mahogany --- this has a darker color than other mahogany veneer I've seen

crotch veneer; obviously not right at the crotch but near it --- definitely compression wood and very rich looking.

crotch veneer; the piece in the first pic has hardly any crotch figure but does have the dense rich look and swirly/non-uniform grain direction that is common to crotch areas.

web pics:

end grains listed as Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla, nicely showing the frequent pore multiples and the marginal parenchyma

planks

planks listed as Central American mahogany

planks listed as South American mahogany

flat cut and quartersawn planks listed as genuine mahogany

planks listed as genuine mahogany

plank listed as caoba --- I'm dubious about the red color

planks with unlikely color --- the purple is particularly silly; some of these might be correct, assuming that the wood is moistened and the pics taken in a bright light

bowl blank --- the 2nd one was listed as figured and does seem to have a very light mottle

curly planks, both of which have color at the extreme ends of what is likley (but possible)

fiddleback planks --- these were quite expensive and I have not seen much Honduras mahogany with this kind of really strong curl/fiddleback, so I assume it's pretty rare.

curly plank with color that is possible, but is probably too light

quilted planks listed as genuine mahogany

figured plank listed as genuine mahogany

crotch

pen blanks that have been oiled and waxed

veneer

veneer listed as Centeral American mahogany

swirl veneer listed as geniune mahogany

quartersawn and flat cut veneer listed as genuine mahogany

quartersawn veneer

veneer listed as genuine mahogany from Guyana / Swietenia macrophylla

veneer listed as genuine mahogany from Peru / Swietenia macrophylla

veneer listed as South American mahogany pomelle veneer, but it looks to me more like quilted than pomelle

veneer, and closeup, listed as South American mahogany pomelle veneer, but it looks to me more like quilted than pomelle

quilted veneer

fiddleback veneer

blistered veneer

veneer, and closeup, listed as South American mahogany pomelle veneer. The pomelle figure is VERY weak

veneer listed as South American mahogany pomelle veneer. The pomelle figure is VERY weak

South American mahogany figured veneer all from the same vendor

crotch veneer and flame crotch veneer, both listed as South American mahogany

crotch veneer

crotch veneer and figured veneer listed as genuine mahogany

veneer listed as South American plum pudding mahogany veneer. The plum pudding figure is there but it is extremely weak.

guitar kits --- that middle one is really stunning; take a look at the enlargement --- it's unusually pale, but what a spectacular grain pattern ! The one on the left is a faint version of the same thing.

two guitar sets listed as genuine mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla

guitar set listed as quilted Honduran mahogany and one listed as beeswing Honduran mahogany. The "beeswing" is a grossly optimistic appellation for this piece. I'd call it plain mottled.

thinwood guitar sets listed as genuine mahogany

quartersawn Honduran mahogany guitar back

turned pen by my friend Philip Passintino --- he has this piece as genuine mahogany / caoba

bowls

bowl and two closeups --- I shot this in a craft store that sold mostly wooden bowls. There is a hair too much red in the pics, especially the first two; the last shot is very accurate in color.

Two views of a little turning I did specifically to show many aspects of the grain. This turning was done 9 years ago and I just now got around to taking the pics (I TOLD you I was a world class procrastinator. Or wait ... did I put off telling you that?) Anyway, I cannot remember exactly what the piece looked like 9 years ago (and also I should mention that it has a polyurethane finish) but I am very sure that it was considerably lighter than it is now even though it spend most of those 9 years in a closed box and even aside from that has had little exposure to indirect sunlight and none to direct sunlight. The pics here have just a hint too much red in them. Although this piece was not cut from any of the samples at the top of the page, I'm pretty confident that the original color was almost exactly the same as the pieces labeled "three bowl blanks and a closeup of the middle one" and also I remember that when it was lighter, the grain was easier to see. This darkening is a reasonably good example of the excellent age-patina that mahogany tends to take on --- it's even better (acutally MUCH better) if an oil finish is used and re-applied at regular intervals, with buffing.

Planks from the BogusColorVendor, with their usual unrealistic colors (although the exaggeration here is WAY less than is often the case with that vendor's pics)

figured planks as shown with their usual unlikely color and what my graphics program gets if I just hit "adjust color balance".

both sides of a curly plank --- note the rather radical contrast in colors --- I seriously doubt that the wood has that kind of color shift from one side to the other.

plank and closeup

planks listed as Honduran mahogany / Swietenia macrophylla --- some of these are obviously WAY too bright yellow/orange, some less so