Description
A very beautiful hardwood obtained from mahogany trees has been in high
demand for centuries. Big-leaf mahogany is the most commercially important
member of the genus. Its economic uses are for fine furniture, cabinet
making, interior trim, fancy veneers, musical instruments, and carving.
Big-Leafed Mahogany's general characteristics are heartwood is reddish or
pinkish, the color darkening with age to a deep red or brown, sapwood
usually yellowish and up to 400 mm wide. The density is 500-800 (850) kg/m
sup.3 at 15% moisture content.
The grain of the wood is interlocked, sometimes straight, texture is fine
to moderate coarse. Surface is glossy, and the wood is often nicely figured
because of the irregular grain.
Generally hardwood rates as durable in resistance to a brown-rot and a
white-rot fungus. Moderately resistant to dry-wood termites and little
resistance attack by marine borers.
|