16/4 Mahogany

robliles

Rob
Corporate Member
Does anyone know where I can find, locally, i.e. in North Carolina, 16/4 Mahogany. I have a commission for a bed that will require two 5' 4x4s and two 3' 4x4s. Any help would be appreciated!!

Rob
 

Robert LaPlaca

Robert
Senior User
I have purchased 16/4 South American [SA] Mahogany from Irion Lumber, but they are not in NC.

You might be able to find SA 16/4 Mahogany at Scroungers Paradise in Asheville, they had a large buy of SA Mahogany from a warehouse in New Orleans.. Either way it’s going to be pretty price..
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
I think you may have a time locating lumber that thick.

An option to consider is making up a post using thick veneer.

I’ve done this by laminating 1/4“ thick boards to a hardwood core post. Miter the corners. They really do look pretty good, you can select for grain, and it saves on some expensive lumber.
 

SBeaudrot

New User
Steve
I find FaceBook market to be a helpful source, for finding odd stuff. A lot of small family sawmills use this platform.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
Does anyone know where I can find, locally, i.e. in North Carolina, 16/4 Mahogany. I have a commission for a bed that will require two 5' 4x4s and two 3' 4x4s. Any help would be appreciated!!

Rob

Why does this bed have to be made of mahogany and why 16/4?

Irion lumber has 16/4 South American Mahogany slabs. This one is 13' long x 20.5" wide for a mere $1800.

 

robliles

Rob
Corporate Member
It has to be mahogany because that is what the client wants. The four post for the bed are 4"x4"x 5' long on the head board and 3' on the footboard. There is some turning on these post so a laminated or veneered post would not work. Scroungers Paradise does not have 16/4 nor does Bee Tree Hardwoods. Everywhere else I have checked, in NC and further out does not have it available. I tried to talk the client into cherry as I can readily get 16/4 cherry. While the project is an interesting one and would produce a fair profit, I am about ready to turn it down. Thanks to everyone for suggestions and help.
 

McRabbet

Rob
Corporate Member
Rob,

You might try contacting Brian Boggs (Brian Boggs Chairmaker) in Asheville ( (828) 398-9701 ). You;ll probably want to ask for Melanie, Brian's wife and co-owner and feel free to mention my name (Rob Payne, Western NC Woodworkers Association) in making your request. Brian is part of a group that supports sawmills in Central America that use environmentally approved methods to harvest naturally downed trees and he brings lumber back to the US periodically. I purchased some 8/4 from him several years ago and it is beautiful wood (but not cheap).

Hope this helps.
 

lspooz

Larry
Corporate Member
If you start with a 3-inch thick mahogany slab you could make alternating cuts on table saw with blade at 45 degrees. This would produce 3-inch tall triangular pieces with a 6-inch face AND two 4.24" sides perpendicular to each other. You could then glue the 6-inch faces together yielding 4-1/4" by 4-1/4" square post WITH continuous grain across two adjacent faces on either side. This would produce visually pleasing solid wood posts with minimal grain mismatch, and if the internal glued faces were all perpendicular to the center of the bed it would appear symmetric from within the bed.
Good luck in the quest
 

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