Materials

Old growth timber is loosely defined as any wood harvested from a tree that has fully matured in a highly competitive forest environment over more than a century, with no meaningful human interference. Trees growing in undisturbed forests are subjected to intense competition for water, sunlight and soil nutrients. This results in very slow growing trees that have very dense growth rings.

This matters to the antique aficionado because, as I discovered first-hand, old growth wood is superior in every way to “new” wood. And this is especially the case when that new wood has been harvested from a commercial tree plantation, a situation that is rapidly becoming the norm today.

A few years ago I purchased a house that was built in 1913. As part of remodeling the kitchen, I refinished some white-pine built-in cupboards. These well-made pieces were original to the house – about 100 years old. As part of the refinishing process, I sanded down, re-stained and sealed the old, ruined finish. In all, I estimate I spent somewhere between 100 and 125 hours restoring these wonderful built-ins. During that painstaking process, I discovered something very interesting; old growth timber is a joy to work with.

The ease of working with old growth wood wasn’t something that was apparent to me at first. That only happened after I sanded and finished some new white pine boards fresh from Home Depot as part of the remodel. This new, Home Depot wood didn’t sand well, even when using the same equipment and sandpaper as on the old built-ins.

The new boards’ finished surfaces were always “fuzzy”, regardless of how much care I took in sanding or how fine the grit on the sandpaper was. The new, Home Depot wood warped with shocking regularity, splintered easily and rarely took stain evenly. In short, the modern pine was a nightmare to work with.

In contrast, the pine from the century old built-ins was almost effortless to work with. The tight, even grain meant the old growth pine sanded uniformly and rarely splintered. The cabinets took a remarkably smooth, almost glass-like finish and accepted stain evenly. When I had finally finished, a family member even commented that the now fully restored cabinets looked as if they had been made from expensive black cherry, rather than pedestrian white pine. And it was true; they were gorgeous.

Old growth timber of any given species is denser, harder and stronger than the same species of lumber harvested from a managed stand or farm. It is more insect and rot resistant. It also possesses far superior dimensional stability, with much less warping and checking than modern wood. Old growth wood often has a more fully figured grain pattern and richer color. And as if all that wasn’t enough, old growth timber can often be found in larger sizes, especially widths, than mass-market, plantation harvested wood.

The connoisseur of fine antiques is in luck. Almost all wood harvested before the early 20th century was old growth timber. This means that any antiques incorporating wood made before that time – like furniture, frames for paintings or some objets d’art – contain the best of the best – old growth wood.

However, there is still a small supply of old growth lumber harvested today. Although uncommon, some fine temperate hardwoods like oak, maple, birch and cherry may still be cut from undisturbed forests, thus possessing all the treasured attributes of wonderful old growth wood. A few tropical hardwoods like rosewood, mahogany and teak may also be old growth, but, due to over-harvesting in the wild, nearly all of these exotic woods are now plantation grown. Softwoods, with pine being the foremost example, are now almost exclusively plantation grown.

My parents own an antique Chippendale drop-front walnut desk from the late 18th century. It was undoubtedly constructed from old growth black walnut – some of its boards easily exceed two feet in width. The desk has taken on a beautifully rich, deep chocolate brown patina over the last two centuries.

Amazingly, the walnut trees used in the creation of this desk were seedlings in the late 16th or early 17th century. And the only reason they weren’t older is because black walnut isn’t a very long lived tree species. My parent’s drop-front Chippendale desk, like every piece of antique furniture made before the 20th century, partakes in the many blessings of old growth timber. Astute collectors and investors should strive to understand and cherish antiques created from this wonder material.

Once upon a time there was a magnificent wood that possessed splendid physical characteristics. It was in such demand by the wealthy that bold adventurers relentlessly scoured the remotest jungles of the Caribbean searching for it. In fact, this beautiful wood was so coveted that it was harvested to the point of commercial extinction.

That wood is Cuban Mahogany, the once and future king of all the cabinetwoods. While there are a plethora of woods that go by the trade name mahogany, Cuban Mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), Honduran Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and the commercially unimportant Mexican Mahogany (Swietenia humilis) are the only true members of the mahogany genus.

Cuban Mahogany is a wood apart from all others. It is substantially denser and stronger than its closest analog, Honduran Mahogany. It resists rot well and is renowned for its superb dimensional stability. Cuban Mahogany is a fine tonewood, widely sought after for use in expensive musical instruments. It works easily with both hand tools and power tools and also finishes exceptionally well.

The wood’s subtly figured grain and rich, deep reddish-brown tone combine to give it unparalleled beauty. It was, in times past, available in huge boards up to several feet wide, giving high-end woodworkers tremendous artistic flexibility. In short, Cuban Mahogany is, or at least used to be, the ideal wood for fine furniture and cabinet-making.

Cuban Mahogany timber was first exploited for shipbuilding by Spanish explorers shortly after their arrival in the New World. But it wasn’t until the 18th century that it became indispensable to the English and French furniture trades. The finest antique furniture styles – Chippendale, Federal, Sheraton and Empire – all heavily relied on Cuban Mahogany as a primary material.

For the next two centuries the noble specie was cut down in massive quantities for export wherever it was found. To make matters worse, it was also employed for mundane purposes on its native islands such as railroad ties, fence posts and even firewood.

When the end came for the king of woods, it did so suddenly. As late as the 1920s it was still possible to purchase sizable volumes of large, old growth Cuban Mahogany logs. A mere decade later it was not possible.

The tree was not harvested to actual extinction, but merely to commercial extinction, as if it made much difference. In reality, the jungles of the Caribbean had been systematically purged of any large Cuban Mahogany trees. Any specimens lucky enough to escape the almost total extermination were immature, misshapen or otherwise unfit to be converted to lumber.

The ghosts of Cuban Mahogany’s alluring curse still haunt us today. For example, another coveted tropical hardwood, Brazilian Rosewood, has met a very similar fate to its Cuban cousin.

And Honduran Mahogany, the wood that replaced Cuban Mahogany in the fine timber trade due to its similar properties, hasn’t even lasted another 100 years in widespread commercial availability. Most Honduran Mahogany on the market today is either harvested illegally or cut from dedicated plantations in Central America or Southeast Asia.

Cuban Mahogany, on the other hand, can only be sourced sporadically in small amounts from damaged tree salvage or antique furniture that has been broken up for scrap. Cuban Mahogany, the king of woods, is dead; long live the king.