Brazilian Mahogany prices

[Chrispy]

Just doing a bit of research, anyone brought any lately? any idea how much full boards go for nowadays?

 

[rafezetter]

Lol darn it, I should have got in there when I had the chance

 

[thetyreman]

I found some on ebay, paid about £35 for some old mahogany table tops, which seemed like a good deal, the same seller was also selling mahogany turned legs from old tables and beds e.t.c

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I'd have thought the first problem would be finding any. Isn't it a naughty wood under CITES these days?

I seem to recall Custard mentioning that plantation grown 'Cuban' mahogany from Asia was coming onto the market in small quantities, but can't recall which merchant he mentioned. Hopefully he'll chip in...

 

[AJB Temple]

Lately I have taken to buying up old Brazilian mahogany furniture, tables mostly, in auctions and junk shops. The only snag is you need to be able to recognise it.

 

[Chrispy]

Sorry for the vagueness to my query, I'm actually selling not buying!

 

[adidat]

Chris its illegal to sell! very naughty but to save you time I will collect it and drop it off at my nearest police station!

i wont mention any names!! :roll: :roll:

adidat

 

[Chrispy]

That's a very kind offer Adidat, but I couldn't possibly put you to such trouble.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I remember talking to Sykes a couple of years ago and it was £250 cubic foot plus the VAT, I guess it's gone up since then.

Cheers Peter

 

[custard]

Here's the thing, Brazilian Mahogany is CITES restricted (basically it can't be imported or exported), the genuine article is (notionally at least) hugely expensive,...but despite all that hardly anyone in the UK actually wants the stuff!

Luthiers seem to prefer Honduran Mahogany (plus they only buy in tiny quantities), antique restorers prefer Cuban Mahogany (plus there are so few of them left anymore and they make so little money that they're not buying much of anything), and Mahogany generally is so far out of fashion that even though furniture makers love working with it, they can't convince any of their clients to actually buy anything made from Mahogany. The one opportunity I can think of is premium garden furniture, like really well made steamer chairs and the like. But the comparison you'll always be battling against with garden furniture is Asian imports made from plantation grown Teak, that sells for less than I can source the materials.

EBay has plenty of Mahogany salvaged from broken up, low grade Victorian antiques; plus there's also loads of people on Ebay selling Khaya, Sapele, and other African timbers but calling it Brazilian Mahogany.

So which ever way you look at it, the market for Mahogany is in a bit of a mess at the moment.

But if you do find a buyer at anything like a reasonable price then please let me know. I must have at least 20 or 30 cubic foot of really prime Brazilian Mahogany, as it's pretty unlikely anyone will ever commission any furniture from it, I'd be only to happy to let it go!

In all seriousness, if you could get £100 a cubic foot for it then my guess is that you'd be doing pretty well.

 

[Chrispy]

Thank you Custard that's very much the way I see it too, and by the time fashion changes and mahogany comes back in the market will be flooded with plantation grown timber.

 

[AJB Temple]

Oddly enough I would be interested! It is a beautiful wood and I have always worked with it for instrument making. The reason I am buying table tops (for a song usually) is I have a project in mind.

 

[Matt@]

prices of mahogany antique furniture thus timber has fallen through the floor. Great times to be stocking up all these tables leaves! Victorian mahogany drop flap tables cant give them away. Victorian extending dining tables getting a fraction of what they did 10 yrs ago....

 

[No skills]

In my ignorance is there much visual difference between Brazilian/Cuban mahoganys and the likes of sapele?

 

[woodbrains]

In my ignorance is there much visual difference between Brazilian/Cuban mahoganys and the likes of sapele?

Hello,

Oh yes!

In fact there is just as great difference between Cuban and Brazilian mahogany as there is between them and Sapele.

Cuban is incomparable.

Mike.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I'm puzzled about one thing, though. What has fashion got to do with making contemporary furniture out of mahogany? I can understand that Victorian mahogany furniture is no longer in vogue, but we don't have to reproduce antiques; we make something new. I see a lot of cutting edge furniture made from mahogany, Khaia, Utile, Sapele, Macore, Jatoba and other 'red' woods in America. It doesn't stop our Transatlantic cousins. These woods are beautiful and do not have to be made into something our grandmothers owned. Imagination!!

Mike.

 

[Harbo]

My father used to make things out of old mahogany furniture, here's a 3 legged rocking horse:

And an unfinished piece hiding in the undergrowth:

Rod

 

[Housey210]

I too have many planks of Brazilian, made all my windows from it. Bought from a local hardwood specialist in 1997. How can it be illegal to sell ones own legitimate stock bought in good faith?

 

[Droogs]

Legal to sell to a buyer on the British mainland (providing you have proof of origin dating before CITES), illegal to sell to someone in NI/IOM/Jersey or outside UK borders and totally illegal to bring any in.