On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 15:20:04 -0700, "George M. Kazaka"
wrote:

Actually what you have is African Mahogany and it is usually passed off as
Genuine Mahagony
It is a good wood but can be a bear to work with. You will also note it is
darker and can have some black streaks going through it.

Thanks to all who replied - I think George has the best
description of what I have. I did get a lot of tear-out while planing
but put it up to my technique. I didn't say the 'fuzzy' sections were
darker (black streaks?), but they are. The weird part is that now one
of my pieces has been around for a few months, those parts are still
darker *except* for small areas where they are turning very light -
even gray - as though they had slurped up the finish and were drying
out. The only remaining questions is - does African Mahogany have the
same kind of wormholes in it that I read about for the real stuff?
FWW's recent article on Finishing Mahogany showed worm holes just like
the ones in my suspect wood.
I bought this wood by mail from a dealer recommended by
several on the wreck. Not all the wood has this problem. The 8/4 HM I
bought locally has had no problems - but it cost me three times the
mail order price. Looks like I got half lucky with mail order.


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