relative hardness of genuine (Honduran) mahogany vs. cherry
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- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 months, 2 weeks ago by Jeff Baker.
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30 May 2022 at 11:03 pm #761357
Hi,
I am in the process of building the Keepsake box. I tried Spanish cedar as I had never worked with it. It was a wonderful wood but awfully soft and fragile. When I went to glue up the Paul Sellers Keepsake box, despite my being very very careful, I had three major wood fractures. I was planning to remake it. I am inclined to try cherry as I have worked a fair bit in cherry and know I won’t have the same problems of fragility that I think is related to using Spanish cedar. How does genuine mahogany behave in terms of strength and brittleness relative to cherry? Given I just had a wood unknown to me cause problems, I am disinclined to try a new to me wood but though I would check as I have the perfect piece of mahogany for this. Thanks for the feedback.To the other question. What happened during glue up? I’m not completely certain. I did several mock dry runs (as much as you can in this design) and even made cauls and was gentle when applying clamp pressure. The top and bottom if anything were a bit too loose in their respective grooves. My best guess is that there was some swelling in the wood with the glue. When I saw it open, I should be able to repair most of the damage. The scars will be there but for my personal use or my 10 year olds use it will be fine.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.I can only imagine how unpleasant it must have been to see those after all the work you have put into the box till the glue up. Regarding your question, I cannot say. So far I have only used european oak and european ash on the keepsake box. Never used mahogany.
1 July 2023 at 5:31 pm #806081Yes, that was unpleasant. I managed to salvage it enough so that my daughter is happy to have it. Since this post, I have worked with a piece of genuine mahogany to make a Paul Sellers clock (gave to a local charity to auction). Nice wood to work with. A little softer than cherry but strong enough so that I do plan to make a keepsake box from it.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.1 July 2023 at 7:43 pm #806095Regarding the failure: Based on the failure location, I think the tongue of the panels was too long.
Either mahogany or cherry will work well, neither is that different from the other for this application. Sometimes the mahogany will tearout more easily than cherry would. But, mahogany is not as “chippy” as cherry can be. If you stick to straight-grained woods, you should have good luck with most anything.
5 November 2023 at 3:23 am #818133I made one a few months back out of Cherry with shellac finish and it came out very nice. I used 1/2 inch for the sides instead of the 9/16 as Paul used, so I was extra careful in the clamping, but once glued together it is very sturdy and used as a music box.
jeff
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