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Selling Florida mahogany and rosewood

Started by Allenb, October 25, 2018, 08:02:35 PM

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Allenb

Hello,
I am relatively new to milling and this is my first post. I live in south Florida and have been collecting and milling Cuban mahogany. Mahogany is a common ornamental plant here and is on every almost every residential corner.

Seeing as true Cuban (genuine) mahogany, grown in its native range, is not commercially available anymore, I would imagine that there would be some demand for this wood. However, I have gotten barely any interest from potential buyers both hardwood dealers and private woodworkers. 

Does anyone have any input on why this is? I don't think I am asking too much, 15$ per board foot. 

swampbuggy

The people I mill for in Fl get between $6 and $10 A BF.
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Ianab

I think a bit much as well. There are other woods that you can substitute for Mahogany that sell for much less. Just checked and here in NZ Rosewood is selling for maybe US$7 if you buy in bulk, and you can easily get Jarra and Kwila if you need the durability for around the same price. 

Now if you are fixing up your boat, and the choice is imported Jarra or foreign "mahogany" for $7, or local (genuine) Mahogany for $15? Most folks are going to find the substitute is suddenly "good enough". 

Now if your wood was $8? Pay $1 more for the genuine article? Yeah, more folks should go for that. This is also in line with the pricing that Swampbuggy is seeing. 

In the end, something is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay, but you should still be able to make good coin at $7-8, and actually move some stock. 
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Nomad

     Is your wood kiln dried and S4S?  Even then it seems high.  African mahogany (yes, I realize it's not the same thing) is selling kiln dried, S4S, up to 16/4 for under $7.00.  My bad.  Planing is an added charge.
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DelawhereJoe

According to Wiki its an endangered species so I don't know how well that will sit with some folks with you cutting and milling the trees. If these are just yard trees I see no problem cutting them but others "the government" may think otherwise.
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Allenb

Thanks for the input guys. I guess I didn't do enough research on pricing. 
My original thought was to sell the wood up north, out of Florida. I am originally from Philadelphia and have to drive back frequently so that is why I had the price higher. 
I thought there might be a higher demand out of Florida since the wood is obtainable down here

Ianab

Quote from: DelawhereJoe on October 26, 2018, 07:50:06 AM
According to Wiki its an endangered species so I don't know how well that will sit with some folks with you cutting and milling the trees. If these are just yard trees I see no problem cutting them but others "the government" may think otherwise.

Something that's endangered in its native habitat can still be an invasive weed some place else. Wiki also lists Monterey Pine as "endangered". Yet its 90% of NZ forestry, and considered a weed in some parts of the country.

Even if it's on the CITIES list, that only affects export/ import, not domestic sales. There would be extra hoops to jump through if you wanted to send it to Canada for example.

It might still be wise to document exactly where the trees actually  came from, just in case questions are asked in the future? The wood isnt illegal, just might be good to be able to prove that later.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

FLPINERAT

You can buy "American" mahogany all day for less than $10 bf, and that's kiln dried.

For a $15 bf market, would need to be nice figured not straight grained.

I have some in the shop now that is also Cuban, basically indistinguishable from Honduran. Straight grain...Can't give it away.

There's a lot of other trees in S FL...that would be of more interest to woodworkers than mahogany :)

sondich

I'm new to forestry and the forum but I am in the wholesale end of the kiln-dried hardwood business so I'll throw my 2 cents in...

I think you'd have better luck with Florida-produced Rosewood than Mahogany. Despite what is often written about, there is a decent amount of Genuine Mahogany (the good stuff - swietenia macrophylla) available in the market that can be had for at or under $15 retail - big clean, well produced kiln dried boards.  This is probably why no one seems excited about the Mahogany offering.

Dalbergia Rosewood is another story. There's not a lot in the US and it easily retails for 3-5x+. There seems to be a market for this online even for less than clean boards. Advantage Lumber is milling logs like this out of their FL location. You can see what they're doing and what it's selling for on their site. Keep in mind that even though your Rosewood is urban cut in Florida, it's still subject to the same CITES restrictions as the Rosewood coming from overseas.

I have no affiliation with Advantage except that I've had them slab up some logs for me a couple of times before.

Good luck.


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