# Dark Red Meranti / Philipine Mahpogany



## tjride (Feb 15, 2013)

I just acquired a bunch of Red Meranti and was wondering if there are any problems associated with working with this wood? It seems to cut well. I will mostly be using it to do Srollsaw work with. 
I have sanded a small sample and finished it with Bush Oil and it really pops the grain and darkens quite a bit.

Just curious of any ideas regarding working with it…


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## WoodenFrog (Jun 4, 2010)

Sorry TJ, Like I said before I have never worked with it before!
Nice score though!


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## dustbunny (May 18, 2009)

I made an outside sign frame with meranti.









This is a shot of the dry fit. The tenons were doweled later, no gaps as shown here.

It works very nice, straight tight grain, hard wood so have your tools sharp.

The only thing I found is you should wear gloves when handling it,
until it is sanded.
It splinters like crazy and once embedded in your skin, they fester like mad.
Painful !
Other than that, I love this wood.

It is used as an outside wood for the deterioration qualities. Decking is what I was told by the supplier.
It is basically in a class of outdoor use lumber like redwood and cedar.
You should be able to create some beautiful scrollwork with it !

Lisa


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## tjride (Feb 15, 2013)

Thanks Robert and Lisa.
I am sure I will enjoy working with it…


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Red Meranti is sometimes called lauan, or Phillipine Mahogany. It is not a real mahogany. Biggest problem, as Lisa noted is that it tends to blunt your tools edges. This is because it has an erratic grain structure, it has a tendency to have grain stems change direction in mid-stream, so you find yourself cutting end grain as well as straight grain at the same time. This especially shows itself if you plane with straight blade planers. Chip out.

There are lots of similar species in this group. One very popular one is called rubber wood by the Chinese, and is used a lot in furniture legs due to its durability. Some species grow fast and are not on any endangered list, some are endangered. 
Mostly used for plywood, interior furniture from the Asian Rim, veneer, decking.


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## dustbunny (May 18, 2009)

Tennessee- Thanks for the info. 
I didn't realize that about the grain direction. 
Now that you mention it, I did have a few spots, one very large, that I thought were knots. 
Now I realize it was end grain….duh….LOL 
I drilled them down and plugged them with face grain pieces as they were very dark and eye drawing.

Lisa


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## tjride (Feb 15, 2013)

Thanks all,
This is good information to have…


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