How to Identify Mahogany (Honduran/Genuine) Wood (Swietenia macrophylla)

Heartwood varies from pale pinkish brown to darker reddish brown, darkening with age. Grain can be straight, interlocked, irregular, or wavy; medium, uniform texture with moderate natural luster. End grain: Diffuse porous; growth rings usually distinct due to marginal parenchyma bands; vessels large, few, with occasional reddish-brown deposits; parenchyma vasicentric and banded (marginal); rays medium width, generally not visible without magnification; ripple marks present on flatsawn surfaces.

Janka hardness 800 lbf (side hardness: the force needed to embed a 0.444-inch steel ball to half its diameter). Specific gravity 0.45 at 12% moisture content, so a cubic foot weighs roughly 28 lb. Weight in the hand is one of the quickest checks: compare a piece of known size against a board you already know.

Sapele is often sold as a mahogany substitute ('sapele mahogany') and shares a similar reddish-brown color, but it is notably harder (1,510 lbf vs mahogany's 800 lbf), has interlocked grain producing ribbon-stripe figure, and gives off a distinct cedar-like scent while being worked, unlike mahogany's lack of characteristic odor. The Sapele page has its own details.

No characteristic odor; a key anatomical tell is that Swietenia (true mahogany) species have marginal parenchyma bands, whereas African Khaya-genus mahogany lacks them.

Furniture, cabinetry, turned objects, veneer, musical instruments, boatbuilding, and carving.

Typically very easy to work with hand and machine tools; figured sections may tear out; sands, turns, glues, stains, and finishes well; reported to cause eye/skin/respiratory irritation and, less commonly, boils, asthma-like symptoms, nausea, or hypersensitivity pneumonitis; listed under CITES Appendix II.

Photograph a freshly cut or sanded face in daylight, not a finished or stained surface, since stain hides color and finish flattens grain. Add a close-up of the end grain: cut a clean end, wet it or sand it to 220, and shoot from straight on; pore pattern and rays are the most reliable marks. Put a ruler in frame. The app suggests the likely species; confirm with the end grain and weight.