mango wood or oak?

bluedrop

Hi all,
We saw a lovely mangowood dining table. It comes with grass chairs. The same design comes in oak with oak chairs. The oak set is £100 more than the mango set. I thought mango wood is a lot cheaper?

Does anyone here have mango wood? How do you like it?

Given an option, what would u buy? Mango wood or oak?

bluedrop

Anyone?

Bumping my thread

Leif

Which do you like the best?

I have seen mango wood furniture, and the pattern is not to my taste. I Googled, and discovered that the pattern is due to spalting. That is the name for the pattern that results when fungi partially digest the wood. The wood retains most of its strength, but you get a pattern. You can pay a lot for decorative items made from spalted hard woods, such as spalted beech which is highly sought after. According to one source, it is generally an ecologically sound wood, as it is harvested from fruit plantations.

Oak is a beautiful wood, although there are several species. Some furniture is made from French oak which is harvested sustainably. Some of the imported oak might be from illegal logging. That is my concern with shops such as Oak Furniture Land. I have no evidence that OFL use illegally logged wood, but there is no mention of the source on their web site. And according to some people companies such as OFL use sapwood, as well as heartwood.

There are some British companies that make furniture in the UK from sustainably sourced oak, and they sell direct to the public. Not as cheap as OFL, but not expensive either.

bluedrop

I loved the grain pattern on mango wood. My concerns are sustainability and durability.

Leif

If you are concerned about the source of the wood, then look at Chris Sharp Cabinets, and here is some British made furniture, not sure about the wood origin:

http://www.inciteinteriors.co.uk/

I have a wooden bed frame from CSC. The quality of manufacturing is very high. The designs are not terribly exciting though.

cyclonebri1

As above, it's your house and it's your taste, what others think about it really doesn't matter.

But, when it comes to longevity, oak will outlast any timber on the planet, and would be my natural choice.

Your main concern seems to be the lack of difference in cost between the 2??

All I can say is that it won't be English oak which is much more highly valued, and that maybe actual material costs don't effect the bottom line too directly.

Transport, and profit along the line will be roughly similar I'm guessing.

Now lets see, would I rather have grass chairs or oak chairs???:D