Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey luthiers,
Just FYI, in standard nomenclature there is no such thing as Honduran mahogany or Honduran rosewood. Brazilian rosewood comes from Brazil, Indian rosewood comes from India, and Honduras mahogany comes from nearly every country in Central America and Northern South America. There is only one mahogany on the commercial market and that is bigleaf mahogany, commonly known as Honduras mahogany. Honduras rosewood comes from many countries in Central America, not just Honduras. The whole "Honduran" thing seems to be of recent coinage.
Don't get me started on Cuban mahogany!

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

[QUOTE=TRein] Hey luthiers,
There is only one mahogany on the commercial market and that is bigleaf mahogany, commonly known as Honduras mahogany. [/QUOTE]

One of my suppliers also stocks Swietenia microphylla the small leaved mahogany, I've use it a couple of times, it's denser and with tighter grain that S. macrophylla, it's excellent wood.

I never buy wood from anyone that doesn't list the taxonomic name of the wood.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hey Tod,

What is that really light colored Mahogany I got from you? Any ideas for staining? I know you are oging to say amber in the finish, which I may do.

I'm starting to build with it today

This link might be helpful to some..maybe not.

http://www.rainforestrelief.org/What_to_Avoid_and_Alternativ es/Rainforest_Wood/What_to_Avoid_What_to_Choose/By_Tree_Spec ies/Tropical_Woods/M/Mahogany.html

An excert from that site:

There are four species of Sweitenia in Latin America: Caribbean mahogany (Swietenia mahogani), Honduran or Pacific Coast mahogany (Swietenia humilis), bigleaf or big-leafed mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and Venezuelan mahogany (Swietenia candollei). There is much confusion as to their common names, with bigleaf mahogany often being called true mahogany, geniune mahogany, South American mahogany or Honduran mahogany. Local common names include acajou and caoba

I think most people building guitars {mabye all but newbs} are aware that Hondo comes from a wide geographical range on Central and {N.}South America, there are such instances of nomenclature abuse in many instances of commercial sale{not limited to luthiery}.. but in another instance >likewise with true Brazilian Rosewood.
Its the false listing of species thats is really an alarming trend, thats on the rise.
Cheers
Charliewood

[QUOTE=Colin S]   
One of my suppliers also stocks Swietenia microphylla the small leaved mahogany, I've use it a couple of times, it's denser and with tighter grain that S. macrophylla, it's excellent wood.
Colin[/QUOTE]
Huh? I have never heard of S. microphylla. A Google search only turned up a few sources, and they were not scientific in origin.
Larry Davis has the taxonomy right, as far as I know. S. humilis is probably the correct name for S. microphyla. Humilis is also known as Pacific Mahogany and it CITES restricted as well. I have seen some pieces of it and it is very nice.
But still, enough with the "Honduran"!!

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Colin, remind me where you get the microphylla from, would you? I'm thinking I should get some for resawing (VSD coming this weekend, hopefully, meaning the first test cuts will be soon. Yay! Been too long coming...)

[QUOTE=Mattia Valente] Colin, remind me where you get the microphylla from, would you? I'm thinking I should get some for resawing (VSD coming this weekend, hopefully, meaning the first test cuts will be soon. Yay! Been too long coming...)[/QUOTE]

Craft Supplies Mattia.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Perhaps Craft Supplies has the wrong genus name.

In the mahogany family is Schardaea microphylla, but it is not a mahogany in the true Sweitenia genus. The Melliaceae mahogany family has 50 genera and about 1400 species. Schardaea microphylla seems to be known as "false mahogany".

complete lineage of Schmardaea microphylla (TaxID 43893):
Tax. Rank Tax. Name Taxon ID   
root subtree
cellular organisms 131567 subtree / info
superkingdom Eukaryota 2759 subtree / info
kingdom Viridiplantae 33090 subtree / info
phylum Streptophyta 35493 subtree / info
Streptophytina 131221 subtree / info
Embryophyta 3193 subtree / info
Tracheophyta 58023 subtree / info
Euphyllophyta 78536 subtree / info
Spermatophyta 58024 subtree / info
Magnoliophyta 3398 subtree / info
eudicotyledons 71240 subtree / info
core eudicotyledons 91827 subtree / info
subclass rosids 71275 subtree / info
eurosids II 91836 subtree / info
order Sapindales 41937 subtree / info
family Meliaceae 43707 subtree / info
genus Schmardaea 43892 subtree / info

Interesting discussion. I was talking to a supplier recently, and he said all he could get was African mahogany. Not sure exactly what that is.

My question -- what is sapele?

I bought some Alaskan salmon the other day from Schwans, and when I read the fine print, it said: "Product of China".

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Colin S] [QUOTE=Mattia Valente] Colin, remind me where you get the microphylla from, would you? I'm thinking I should get some for resawing (VSD coming this weekend, hopefully, meaning the first test cuts will be soon. Yay! Been too long coming...)[/QUOTE]

Craft Supplies Mattia.

Colin[/QUOTE]

Really...I've gotten fairly patchy results with them in the past, in terms of wood. May have to call them. At a later date. When I find some place to put more wood.

(recently got three 5 metre boards of quartered limba, and some nice bubinga. I have zero space left for more wood. I think.)