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Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=27861		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Phillip Patton [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:09 am ]
Post subject:  Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
I'm especially looking for darker stuff. I salvaged some mahogany from an old piano, and it was darker, and very pretty.
I need it for necks, not backs and sides.

Thanks in advance,
Phillip
Author:  Bob Shanklin [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
I have bought H mahogany from http://www.hardwoodemporium.com .They usually have a good selction, and are in the Philly area. They ship to Canada as well.

Bob
Author:  Tom West [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
Phillip: We are lucky enough to have a hardwood dealer in the area and they are very accomadating. They allow folks to go through the wood and pick their own as long as they don't make a mess and mix things up. I mostly pick for cut, quarter sawn or whatever,runout,etc and lastly for color. Found it too hard to get it all. Generally I'm able to get what I want and at a cheaper price then I can by ordering from a supplier.Light colored wood works fine and can be made darker with stain if you prefer.If you live close to a city with a hardwood lumber dealer,it may be worth a look. Good luck in your exploring.
Tom
Author:  TimAllen [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
I have bought mahogany from a variety of suppliers, and the one I recommend most highly is Hibdon Hardwood, an OLF sponsor. You can see photographs of each piece of wood. They are also friendly and accommodating if you explain your interests.

Re finding dark mahogany--from sample to sample, mahogany has a more uniform color than many other woods. You can turn your nose up at staining walnut, and select darker walnut and use it without coloring it. But mahogany is a relatively light-colored wood before it's dyed or darkened by other means. Oil-based goop made with pigments is called "stain;" aniline dye, which gives a much better result, is also called "stain." If you're emulating the rich, dark look of old pianos, I recommend studying up on how to fill and dye the wood.
Author:  DennisK [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
Another fan of Hibdon here. They even have some figured mahogany necks. I already bought the awesome fiddleback one on there though :|

Also, the cocobolo set I got from the monthly special is amazing. Way too good to be called second grade :D

And they rounded up some African blackwood bridge blanks for me, which I haven't been able to find anywhere else.

As for dark mahogany, it seems like old stuff is often darker than the new stuff. Whether that is by darkening over time, or by the available trees, I'm not sure. But more salvage would be a good way to go, and probably not too tough to find pieces for laminated necks from old furniture and such. Time to hit the antique shops and estate sales, perhaps :)

Alternatively you could stain them. Perhaps coffee or tea would look nice. Or a dark shellac finish (or under-layer to a more durable finish).
Author:  jackwilliams [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
I was in the piano refinishing business in another life, and the only mahogany,( or rosewood for that matter) , that I came across was in the form of the case veneer;some very beautiful but hardly in the size to render neck material ,so I am curious... what part(s) of a piano would render mahogany suitable for neck blanks, laminated or otherwise?

Regards,
jack
Author:  jeb98 [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
I have some mahogany that I got from an old boat restorer that he purchased in the 70's. Some of the older mahogany I have darkens up rather quickly, I'll sand it down and the lighter color of the wood will show up, and I don't know if it is from oxidation or exposure to light, but the wood begins to darken even over a period of a few days. I do notice that most of the newer mahogany that I get now is a lot lighter colored (even compared to pieces of the older mahogany that was freshly sanded or planed), and a LOT heavier and denser (from my recollection the density I measured was around .75 or so). I prefer the lighter weight stuff myself, as I feel that it is more similar to the stuff that Martin often used back in the day. Of course I haven't tried any of the sellers mentioned on this page, so I don't know what their mahogany is like.

As far as piano parts, I have heard people mention that some piano legs will be solid wood, and they may be big enough for a neck blank in some cases.
Author:  wbergman [ Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
I think you are close enough to Chicago to go to Owl Lumber. They had three stores last I looked. The one on the south side (closest to you) was also the smallest. The one near O'Hare Airport is the largest. The one in the west suburbs was in between size but also stocked a lot of mahogany. Usually, they are huge boards that you would need to have them cut up, which I think they only did at the store near O'Hare. Often they would have 4" thick slab cut, which you just have them rip into neck sized pieces.

With the new harvesting restrictions on mahogany, I am not sure what they stock, so you should contact them first.
Author:  Phillip Patton [ Fri Jun 18, 2010 10:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
Thanks for the leads, everyone! I actually got some mahogany locally from Woodcraft, but I'll save this page for when I use it all up.
Author:  Dave Fifield [ Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
FYI, for those on the west coast, Global Wood Source in San Jose, CA, always seems to have tons of nice long Honduran Mahogany boards, 3" thick (or more), and lots of it is quartersawn. I've cherry picked a ton of it for my stash, including some very nice flame.

Cheers,
Dave F.
Author:  Ed Haney [ Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
The mahogany I just bought originated from a custom door manufacturer. If you happen to have one near you they might have some waste pieces for little $ that are nice for bodies and/or necks. Or, they may sell you a few pieces from their stock if approached in the right manner.

Ed
Author:  Brock Poling [ Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where's a good place to buy mahogany?
Hibdon is great, I highly recommend them.

But another tip for you is to ALWAYS keep your eyes and ears open in the wood working circles for RETIRED cabinet makers, door makers, furniture makers etc. They are usually a treasure trove of great woods. I found a couple of these guys locally who are setting on HUGE stashes of awesome Mahogany. I bought a pile of 8/4 and 12/4 boards for a very good price. (... most likely some guy will be buying them from me the same way some day. ;-) )
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