Mahogany, what's left in Brazil

[Don_Mannino@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com]

     Audrey,

     Thanks for the note about the Mahogany article.  I missed it in the LA
     Times, I guess.  Here's what little I know about wood supplies for our
     company.

     Various types of Mahogany comes from all over - South America, Africa
     and Asia. Young Chang buys most of it's Mahogany type woods (Luann,
     Nyatoh, etc.) from S.E. Asia, and some from Africa (Bubinga). So far
     the supply of large trees seems to be OK, but the prices have
     skyrocketed in the past few years. That is surely a sign that the easy
     supplies are being used up, and now the lumber companies are having to
     work harder to get the wood.

     The supply of Spruce is more of a problem, with the acceptable grain
     standards being eroded because of supply problems.  We still are
     getting all we need - but there is concern.

     Maple is plentiful and is being regrown fast enough to keep ahead of
     demand.

     We have two major wood mills which obtain the raw logs and mill, age
     and kiln dry out woods. One is at our factory in Inchon, Korea and the
     other is in Tacoma, WA. The Tacoma mill has proven to be very
     successful, and is now supplying woods to other manufacturers in
     limited quantities. This mill has done an excellent job of assuring
     our wood supplies for all North American woods, and the drying process
     seems to be working out exceptionally well, too.

     We have had to raise the prices of our pianos a lot in the past year,
     with more to come, because of large increases in the price of wood,
     and the increased labor rates in Korea. We are expanding with a new
     factory in China in order to help lower our labor costs (not producing
     Young Chang branded pianos, though), but wood prices will continue to
     increase, I suppose.  This price increase creates a natural control on
     limiting the harvest - as long as it doesn't go too far before the
     price goes up as it should!  Unfortunately, these increases make it
     more difficult for people to buy pianos, but what can be done?

     The mahogany used in hammer moldings is usually a harder mahogany type
     wood such as Bubinga or Sapele. The specific gravity of this wood is
     usually higher than medium hardness Maple (Hammer moldings are not
     usually the hardest "Rock Maple"), so there's no tonal advantage to
     using the dark wood. Hornbeam is very dense, so I agree that it isn't
     the best choice for hammer moldings.  If a lower density Mahogany-type
     wood is used, the wood is usually ripped apart by the felt after the
     hammers are pressed, or in some cases the moldings are crushed by the
     presses.

     Don Mannino