# Mango wood



## Anonymous (16 Sep 2004)

Hi, Could anyone tell me a supplier in the UK for Mango Wood? Also could anyone tell me the working characteristics of this wood?

Thanks.


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## Alf (17 Sep 2004)

Welcome to the forum, stoobydale.

Unfortunately I came up pretty much blank on this one (heck, that's two this week. I'm gutted  ) I get the impression it's a being used a bit like rubberwood; sustainable presumably, and easy to machine I'm betting. But like rubberwood there doesn't seem to be much info about, or suppliers. My only thought is to point you in the direction of Chris' Humungous List of Timber Suppliers for possible sources. Anyone else with more adventurous timber buying habits than I got any thoughts? Folks?

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (17 Sep 2004)

Hi Stoobydale, i don't know where to buy Mango wood but i found a little bit about it in A Glossary of Wood by Thomas Corkhill.

Magifera indica. C. America, India. 

Chiefly greyish brown sapwood with yellow markings, with a little light chocolate brown heartwood. Rather hard, heavy, tough, resilient and stable, but not durable except in water. 

Coarse texture with straight grain and lustrous. Slightly interlocked and some curly grain. 

Subject to sap-stain and insect attack. 

Best qualities suggest ash and used for same purposes.

I hope this helps.


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## Signal (17 Sep 2004)

Hmm, interesting thing, well not really but....

Mrs Signal was trawling through the Next catalogue the other day and they have a range of furniture in mango wood, looked quite nice I seem to recall, quite dark though it may of been stained.

Signal (Mr) :lol:


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## Alf (18 Sep 2004)

Some pics of lovely items made in Mango here. Hmm, I have one of those "Ecoscale" rulers somewhere, presumably with mango in it. Never even noticed.  

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (19 Sep 2004)

Thanks for the replys. I was hoping to get hold of some Mango wood to make a bed, we have just bought some furniture from a local furniture shop madwe from said wood and we really like it. It does not look like the wood in the pictures though. It is very dark and the grain seems to be tight but also random ( if that doesn't sound too stupid ) some sections look very much like Tiger Maple. I dont have a digital camera but if I can get hold of one I will post some pics.

Follow the link, tablesandchairs.co.uk and look at the Flagstone range. The wood looks much darker than the pictures in real life.


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## andylee (6 Feb 2017)

mango wood isnt available in uk. think cheap imports, thats why u dont find it, the cost to bring to uk compared to getting the furniture made in the area the mango wood comes from, no competition.


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## Racers (6 Feb 2017)

13 years ago!

Pete


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## novocaine (6 Feb 2017)

Racers":3dr69g1n said:


> 13 years ago!
> 
> Pete



have you never heard of the dead post society?


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## Phil Pascoe (6 Feb 2017)

This must be the record?


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## Racers (6 Feb 2017)

I guess he is trying to be helpful, so we shouldn't criticise him.

Welcome Andy, I see you are in Nottingham as well!

Pete


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## NazNomad (6 Feb 2017)

In the spirit of 'keeping it alive', Stiles & Bates have Mango blanks - https://www.stilesandbates.co.uk/produc ... WILMBB_MST


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## custard (6 Feb 2017)

I believe there are several very different timbers that are sold under the title of "Mango Wood".

Surrey Timbers sometimes stocks large boards of Mutondo an African timber that they describe as Wild Mango. Because it's available in such big wide boards I've used it for quite a few waney edge, slab top desks and tables. In fact I chose this timber when I wanted a desk for myself, which is where I'm sitting typing this,







Here are some close ups of the Wild Mango surface,











Like many tropical timbers it's harder and heavier than most European timbers. The grain is often wild and interlocked which makes planing interesting, nothing insurmountable though. I generally surface these slabs with a bench plane as they're too big for my machinery, and it's all perfectly manageable. Wild Mango takes finish beautifully, this has just had a couple of coats of Osmo, which is all it took for a lustrous, 3D result where it's almost as if you're looking through the surface _into_ the wood itself. It's not particularly oily so it glues easily enough. Plus, unlike a lot of exotics it's not crazy expensive, as always it's more about putting the time in to find the really good boards.

All in all not a bad timber.


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## adidat (6 Feb 2017)

for a second there i thought alf was back!

when ever i hear mango wood, I think cheap nasty furniture!!

adidat


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## No skills (6 Feb 2017)

The nasty furniture is the cheapest source of small amounts of mango timber, eBay and local adds are your friend..

Not that anybody cares of course, unless this project is still waiting for timber since 2004 - as its not one of mine I'd say it's probably finished by now.


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