Table Wood Thoughts

LRGINMT

Just got a line on some African Mahogany and was wondering if anyone has experience or thoughts on whether or not to use on a table. A couple things intrigued me about the wood. One was the tiger striped grain a lot of the boards I saw had. The second was the fact the wood was reclaimed from timbers that came out of a gold mine. The guy who has the timbers owns a sawmill and is able to cut the timbers into custom sizes. He was told these timbers were around 80 years old which I thought was pretty cool. Any comments on whether or not to use the wood would be greatly appreciated.

NPHuskerFL

My understanding after a "little" research is this type of Mahogany will stand up well with OD conditions. Teak, IPE and Redwood are also excellent. I would also do your due diligence as far as what type of sealant you'd want to use to allow for excellent longevity of your African Mahogany. Good luck it sounds like you have found an excellent choice with unique history. Very cool!

PoshPatios

From what I've heard, African Mahogany stands up well outdoors. Seal it with something that provides UV protection and you should have yourself a long lasting build. 80 year old reclaimed wood from a gold mine? Pics! 

LRGINMT

I will get some pics of the timbers as well as the rough cut lumber and finished boards. I totally lucked out the guy is my brother inlaw so I will be able to be involved in the milling as well as building of the table. A definite plus is that he is giving me the wood as long as I help mill it.

GeorgeS

Damn! You lucked out on that!! Talk about deal on the century.

nolaegghead

That sounds like a sweet opportunity, I'd be all over it. 

The discussion of what wood holds up well outside has come up many times.  Some woods are more resistant to decay from water, sun, insects, mold, etc.  However, that benchmark is naked wood in whatever environment you're in (obviously different climates, different environments). 

As a fairly avid wood worker, I will tell you that any would can be preserved to survive just about any environmental conditions.  This takes some work, but you can take the softest, most rot-prone wood and encapsulate it with epoxy, make it shed water and apply a protective (from UV) coat of spar urethane, and it will, with proper maintenance, outlast the most hardy weather resistant species of wood with no protection. 

RRP

Please don't get ripped off about 80 year old wood! If I wasn't already in bed I would post a picture of a 280 year old oak tree in my side yard that died. It wasn't worth saying the rotted wood and I had it thrown down the ravine behind me to at least slow the erosion of the creek. 80 years old is NOT a large tree Trust me! I have a 40 year old oak I personally planted from an acorn and I can get my two hands around it at 5 feet from the ground!

nolaegghead

RRP said:

Please don't get ripped off about 80 year old wood! If I wasn't already in bed I would post a picture of a 280 year old oak tree in my side yard that died. It wasn't worth saying the rotted wood and I had it thrown down the ravine behind me to at least slow the erosion of the creek. 80 years old is NOT a large tree Trust me! I have a 40 year old oak I personally planted from an acorn and I can get my two hands around it at 5 feet from the ground!

@RRP I think he meant the wood is recycled from a mine that is 80 years old.  To me, that's a good thing.  New lumber is usually farmed and inferior to old lumber.   Old lumber usually grew much slower than that in managed forests, and it has a finer grain, higher mineral content and generally outlasts the new stuff.  This is especially true with cypress.  Different wood species grow at different rates.

LRGINMT

Yes I meant the mine was 80 years old. @ Nola . Being from Montana and having the climate we do, in your opinion would this be a good wood to use. I have seen wood in epoxy to weatherproof it and that is not the look I am going for. I plan to have a cover made that will cover the entire table.

nolaegghead

Yes, that wood is more weather resistant than most.  You can get away with oil or wax to preserve it.

LRGINMT

Thanks I appreciate your input.