Thread: Red Mahogany

They are worth what ever someone is willing to pay for them. Should make a nice table though, especially with history

Hey Chris,
What were they making in it? I could not imagine making wine in a Eucalyptus vat, what would it taste like?
Rgds,
Crocy.

Some of the fortified reds - ports, toquays, muscats etc - are aged in mahogany barrels. If so it will be Swietenia mahogany, probably of brazilian origin rather then Honduran... Not eucalyptus mahogany.

Given age and history and having enough to be a volume, price will be whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. They'll be good boards if they were cask staves assuming they wernt damaged when disassembled. Might be worth a bit if you are prepared to market them right, bugger all if you need abquick sale.

I am in no rush to sell what I have as I have no idea what I should make from it. The bloke I got it from said he was offered $10,000 each vat but turned it down. He gave them to me for being a good bloke helping him out. He told me that the vats are around 100 years old so at a guess there is not too much of this timber that has not already been used or destroyed.

Do you have any photos of said timber?

Not right now but I will take some on the weekend and upload them

Originally Posted by gettinthere

I am in no rush to sell what I have as I have no idea what I should make from it. The bloke I got it from said he was offered $10,000 each vat but turned it down. He gave them to me for being a good bloke helping him out. He told me that the vats are around 100 years old so at a guess there is not too much of this timber that has not already been used or destroyed.

Disregard the vat story for a moment....
What you have is 1.3 cube of 100x50 x3.0 of (presumably) Swietenia, probably of Brazilian origin. Don't ask me how I know Brazil is the preferred origin for wine casks... I know more obscure timber facts then most anyone I've ever met.
It's vat/ cask material. I am not a cooper, but my best guess is the timber will be straight grained at rift to backsawn. (I imagine quarter sawn is of as little value for the purpose of holding fluid in a barrel as it is at holding fluid out of a boat: tends to split when nailed and too little shrinkage to take up and seal)

While very highly regarded as a timber, it is neither rare nor particularly difficult to source in those smaller sizes, or any sizes out to 24" wide. I'd be quite confident of being able to land it in Australia for under $3k a cube, and 1/2 that for plantation sourced material. Your material will have no empirical value more then that.

The vat story is where the premium comes in, to the right buyer. Personally I think your mate should have taken the money and run, but people are weird that way... For some that story would add a significant premium to any finished articles, and he was obviously aware of that.

John you sound like a bloke I'd like to have a few drinks with. What would you make with this timber? I've got no idea what to make, I will have to find a planner thicknesses as no one will do it incase of nails

I would make a table out of it.

depends on the number and size of nail holes, and how much noise a metal detector made over it.

as mentioned - table. Good size for that.

but yanno, the clear of steel ones: don't dress them, feed them through a band resaw, split them into thirds numbering as I went for grain matching. Then profile it for 12mm secret nail and join the matches back together to turn it into about 265 x12 panels. Saw them in half to give 1.5m lengths. Split some more lengthwise in half, then half again to give approx 40 x19 DAR. Grab a few more lengths and hit that with a nice beaded edge profile. Bang it all together and voila... Wainscot wall panels to match the dining table.


im a sawmiller, not a woodworker.

Originally Posted by John.G

Some of the fortified reds - ports, toquays, muscats etc - are aged in mahogany barrels. If so it will be Swietenia mahogany, probably of brazilian origin rather then Honduran... Not eucalyptus mahogany..

Well the OP did say Red Mahogany, that's the problem with common names. John, I did a few Google searches and cannot find any reference to any other timbers other than the various Quercus species being used for vats and barrels. Can you provide a reference?
Rgds,
Crocy.

Originally Posted by Old Croc

Hey Chris,
What were they making in it? I could not imagine making wine in a Eucalyptus vat, what would it taste like?
Rgds,
Crocy.

Years ago there was a winery in Griffith by the name of San Bernadino. I am certain that they used euc barrels
as you could taste it in the wine. The wine was Ok but the barrel taste just overpowered everything st the finish.
Perhaps that's why the winery went belly up!

How do i post pics?

IIMG_20160213_184920.jpg[QUOTE=gettinthere;193/QUOTE]
ok so thats what it looks like filthy dirty.