As in all fine furnishings you will find that Mahogany is somewhere near the top of the tree for beauty and finish.
Why not use it for Welsh Lovespoons I ask myself, is this not a fine furnishing in its own right?
The timber carves easily with sharp chisels and carving tools although it will leave a purple residue on your hands if you are one of those people who tends to perspire. The grain for the most part runs straight but you will find that it can reverse and tearing out may occur.
Care must be taken when carving, don’t get carried away and over zealous or before you know it the wood has split further than you like. Even though this is a hardwood the grain is a little open compared to let’s say Maple. Sanding to a smooth finish is a breeze using various grades of sandpaper and it buff up nicely to a silky finish using a paste wax.
With all my Welsh Lovespoons the utmost care is taken to ensure the best possible results but even so it doesn’t always come out as planned. This particular spoon had its own set of problems, the loose balls in the cage were particularly challenging. With the openness of the grain it was difficult to carve within a confined space therefore taking longer than expected.
At the end of the day the carving was unique and pleasing to the eye, but along the way new lessons were learnt.
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[...] The one good thing in carving maple on a smaller scale, is that, with the grain being tight, there is less tendency of tear-out happening. When carving Mahogany, extra care has to be taken and super sharp tools used to keep the carving crisp. [...]
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