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I have a source of free wood which occasionally yeilds a mahogany-like wood. The colour varies from medium tan to dark red and the density varies widely. The grain looks like mahogany but I suspect that it is okumi (Philipine Mahogany). This wood is construction quality but looks usable for ukuleles.

My question is, "If it is okumi, can it be used for musical instruments and what tonal properties can I expect from it?" (I still can't post pictures).

Any help would be appreciated.

Bob

I haven't made a guitar out of it, but I made boxes and used it as my main hobby wood years ago. What I had was really stringy. Entirely nice looking, though.

Hapaand:
Would the stringyness result in poor acoustic properties like hickory or oak?

Bob

I don't know if you can say that, because parts of quilted wood is stringy, but sounds good. Quilted maple for example. Phil mahogany is also quite soft. That might effect sound. I think I read about meranti as guitar wood once. It's a bit like okumi. I wasn't trying to make guitars when I used that wood, so I can't really say anything about the sound of it.

I weighed some and I calculate 43 lb/cu ft for the density.

Bob

Hickory and oak have poor acoustic properties??? Didn't Al Carruth make a nice dousing guitar out of oak? And doesn't Haans buil with white oak often?

_________________
Formerly known as Adaboy.......

You better not let Haans hear you say that!

I'm familiar with Philippine Mahogany that is sold at my local lumberyard, but do not know what species it is (latin genus, etc.) Okumi yields nothing through Google.

I'd buy a little of it and practice on it - if it taps well, isn't a terrible bear to work, has good stiffness to weight properties, chances are it'll be fine.

When used for the backs and sides of high-end acoustic guitars Okoume (or as it is known in the trade, Akoumé) exhibits many of the tonal properties of maple. Guitars made with Akoumé are noticeably lighter in weight than those made with mahogany or rosewood. From Wikipedia