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MAHOGANY USES :
It is used in multistorey systems in the Philippines, boat and ship building and pattern making. Logs are used for the manufacture of veneers and for paneling. It is also used as shade for coffee and cacao.
Mahogany is regarded as the worlds finest timber for high-class furniture and cabinet work. Its popularity is especially due to its attractive appearance in combination with ease of working, excellent finishing qualities and dimensional stability. Mahogany is also often used for interior trim such as paneling, doors and decorative borders. It is used for boat building, often as a decorative wood for luxury yatch and ocean liners, although it is also used when a medium-weight timber with other good qualities is required. It is sometimes applied make it particularly suitable for precision woodwork such as models and patterns, instrument cases, clocks, printer's block and parts of musical instruments; for these purposes, uniform straight-grained material is used. Other minor uses include burial caskets, wood carvings, novelties, toys and turnery.
An oil can be extracted from the seed kernels which might be of some commercial value. The bark is used for dyeing and tanning leather. A gum is produced for Bombay (India) markets from cuts in the bark, both pure and mixed with other gums. Various medicinal uses of various parts of the tree are reported from Central America. The crushed fruit shells have been used for potting medium. Mahogany is also used in reforestation projects and has proved to be suitable in areas protected from grazing. It is used as a shade tree, for example for young plantations of dipterocarps.
Prospects :
Mahogany has very good prospects for large-scale timber production in plantations and for reforestation. A major problem in plantations is the susceptibility to Hysipyla attack. Research priority should be given to the selection of resistant trees which are fast-growing and have an acceptable wood quality. The establishment of optimal methods of vegetative propagation is urgently needed.
UTILIZATION OF MAHOGANY :
A. Particleboard. Particleboard, 12.7-mm thickness were manufactured from mahogany using urea-formaldehyde as binder and with board densities ranging from 400 to 800 kg/m3. Wood densities ranging from 0.43. Mahogany at 500, 600, 700 and 800 kg/m3 board density also passed the PHILSA specifications.
B. Finishing Oil. Big-leaf mahogany seed contains from 47.5 to 62.23% oil which may be extracted by pressing or solvent extraction with hexane. Finishing oil developed from big-leaf mahogany seed oil was superior to the properties of commercial finishing oil.
C. Veneering (face Stock). Used for face veneer and thinstocks for plywood and other panel facing and backs due to good veneering qualities. the bolts cut easily and smoothly with conventional cutting methods. Lathe checks developed in veneer do not exceed 20-30% of the stock thickness.
D. OTHER USES. Sliding, flooring, musical instrument, furniture, cabinet, interior trim, precision instrument, model and pattern, cement bonded board, moulding, baluster and Frame.
ECONOMIC USES :
Wood : Boat and ship building, Pattern making, Veneers/Paneling
Fruit : Varnish and wood preservatives. Polishing material for straw, huts putty.
Production and International Trade : Mahogany is one of the most important tropical timbers on the world market. Most mahogany traded is from natural stands, although small quantities are available from planted trees. Main exporting countries are Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. the most important importers are the United States (buying mainly from Brazil) and Great Britain (in 1989 85,000 m3 of sawn timber). The trade of plantation-grown mahogany in South-East Asia is very limited. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines export only small amounts of sawn mahogany.
