How Much Will a 12 Inch Honduran Mahogany Panel Move
+0.0984" (+2.5 mm)
- Species: Honduran Mahogany (tangential shrinkage 4.1%)
- Starting width: 12"
- Moisture content: 6% -> 12% (a typical dry-to-humid seasonal swing)
MethodΔD = D x ΔMC x (shrinkage% / 30 / 100)
Your actual humidity swing may be smaller or larger than the 6-12% MC example used here — run your own numbers in the movement calculator.
A 12" wide Honduran mahogany panel will grow about +0.0984" (+2.5 mm) across its width from 6% to 12% moisture content — the smallest figure of any species this movement family covers, well under half of what white oak moves at the same width.
Why this one specifically
Mahogany's tangential shrinkage (4.1%) is the reason it earned its reputation as the benchmark stable furniture wood long before movement calculators existed to prove it — fine cabinetry, veneered casework and instrument necks that have to stay flat for decades have all leaned on this species specifically because it moves so little relative to almost everything else available. That low number also makes mahogany more forgiving of construction shortcuts (a slightly tight panel groove, a frame built without quite enough seasonal allowance) that would show up as a cracked panel or a jammed drawer in a higher-movement species like oak or maple.
What moves the number
Even at this low a shrinkage rate, movement still climbs in step with width — a wide enough mahogany panel eventually shows a measurable change too, it just takes considerably more width to get there than a higher-movement species would need.