Teak wood vs. Mahogany

[ledge]

Does anyone khow the quality difference between Teak wood vs. Mahogany to be used indoors or know where I could find the information?

Thanks a lot, JL

[dadiOH]

"Quality"????? That means nothing.

Ask about something that has meaning...like color or density or hardness. Some physical difference or characteristic. Or even a subjective one. ANYTHING except "quality".

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[Andy Dingley]

Teak is not an especially attractive timber (it's OK, but it's boring). What it does offer is very good weather resistance. There are also concerns about sustainability - most commercial teak is Cambodian rainforest, with forged paperwork. There is very little reason to use it indoors.

Mahogany is so rare as to be almost unobtainable. There's some around in the USA that is Central American and and close to the "true" cabinetry manhogany, but this also has sustainability issues. If you can find some true mahogany (S. macrophylla) then it's extremely expensive and requires CITES paperwork, if it's legit. If you see "mahogany" for sale then it's almost guaranteed to be either SE Asian lauan or African utile, neither of which have much to recommend them.

As a general rule, I avoid tropicals entirely and stick with locally grown timber. This is partly for environmental reasons, but it's also because they're just nicer timbers to use for indoor furniture.

[Lew Hodgett]

Using either teak, which these days comes from plantation grown sources, if it is legal, for an indoor application is a waste of good teak, IMHO.

It is a bitch to machine, and very costly.

Honduras mahogany is the only real mahogany, machines beautifully, but is also very expensive.

If it is not Honduras, it's an imitation.

Either of the above, used in a non marine, indoor application, is not a very good use of those woods, IMHO.

Lew

[Lew Hodgett]

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Lew