AboutStuart Mawle Expertise Now been a carpenter & joiner for the past ten years in the UK. I can give avice / help on carpentry & joinery, health & safety, woodworking machinery, power tools and suppliers. I have served an indentured carpentry apprenticeship with a medium sized building contractor doing a wide range of domestic and commercial work. This has included office buildings, barn conversions, building extensions and renovations. During my career, I spent over three years as a wood trades technician at a college. My job involved joinery work, wood maching and helping CITB carpentry & joinery students` pratical projects. I am a member of Institute of Carpenters
Expert: Stuart Mawle Date: 6/26/2008 Subject: Mahogany
Question Hello,
I hope you are able to help me, I have phoned companies and searched to web without any luck. I need to know how Mahogany is graded, and if the wood is of a lower grade what can be done to improve the grade.
I would really appreciate your help here.
Thanks!
Answer You cant really improve a grade as it is a quality indication to wood industry of a particular timber board. To be honest grading of timber varies from country to country and there are different systems for hardwoods to softwoods.
Most UK timber importers import boards and sell on to woodworkers with the most common grade being as FAS. FAS means first and seconds which means this best quality wood available. I take FAS to mean generally good quality boards but expect to have odd few knots, splits and the like in them. I always buy FAS graded timber so I dont know the other grades all that well.
Next grade is FAS 1F which means one face of the board must meet FAS grade requirements with the other being similar to No1 commons. Timber suppliers who sell this grade tend to sell it as No1 commons and better, then No1 commons and finally No2 commons.
So to recap
FAS = first and seconds is the best
No1 commons and better (FAS 1F)
No1 commons
No2 Commons - has more defects expect higher wastage
