I bought some rough-sawn African mahogany for a small trestle table I am about to build. There are a few quirks of mahogany that I didn’t know about before I bought some that I wanted to share. With hindsight, I should have researched the material online more, as there is a massive amount of information on various forums and magazine websites.
- Colour. African mahogany isn’t as dark as I was expecting! I had bought small pieces of mahogany in the past that were a deep brown, but that must have been a different variety. The boards I have are a light pink after I planed the rough boards. I need the final piece to be darker so I will look into using stain or dye.
- Texture. Though pale, the texture of the mahogany is fascinating! It has a ribbon pattern with alternating lighter and darker bands. A smooth surface shimmers when the board is moved under a light.
- Grain pores. Big long pores. So big that many suggest using a grain filler prior to finishing in order to get a smooth surface. Old-school finishers will suggest using pumice or fine sanding to fill the pores with dust and then seal it in with a sealing coat of shellac.
- Work-ability. This is one I didn’t see coming, though I’ve since found it’s well documented in books and on the web. The ribbons often have switching grain directions, so that with one swipe of a hand plane, some of the ribbons get silky smooth, and the others tear out dramatically. I have a little-used Stanley No.3 that I might use to experiment with back-bevels (that concept explained here on the Lost Art Press blog) to reduce tear out, or I might have to resort to sanding.
The challenges of African mahogany gives me an excuse to learn about a few techniques that I have been avoiding:
- Tear-out. Back beveled plane blades or sanding? I’ll try both.
- Staining. Should I stain before applying finish, or use stain in a finish as a toner? I’ll experiment.
- Finishing. Need to fill in pores and get an antique look finish. Time to wander away from using Danish oil on everything and learn about Shellac. Maybe even French polishing.
T r i a l & E r r o r 
You might try super light shaving +super tight seting on a tuned up chip breaker before you go the back bevel route. I have tried this (on swirly walnut grain) and I get tearout free planing backwards (and crinkly bacon shavings)
Absolutely. I’ll do anything to keep my sharpening process simple!
Good to know. I’ve been wanting to get acquainted with mahogany and there’s only one place around that sells the South American varieties.