Domestic cherry deck planking?

[FRPWoody]

I am wanting to replace a rotted aft deck on a 17' runabout. Honduras mahogany is hard to come by in my local. Looking for a sorce for Honduras or a mahogany substitute. My failure in this serch has led me to consider domestic cherry or walnut as a replacement lumber. Any experiece in this area would be appreciated.

[chandler]

I'm sure you could find mahogany with a little research. I'm also sure you could offsset the price by trading some of that cherry or walnut...Hard to come by most anywhere!

[FRPWoody]

From the responce (or lack there of) it seems I'm out in left feild for considering this domestic wood for deck plank. The serch is still on for mahogany. I did however replace the rotted mahogany deck frame with oak. Thanks for the reply.

[gonzo]

Cherry or walnut is fine unless you need to match the grain of the existing decking.

[capt'n ron]

frp, if your local high school has a good wood working shop, ask the instructor about getting some mahog. for you. anyone can buy from the school board, at least here in wis. they can. you can get real good prices( usually cost) from them as well. i rebuilt te deck on an old shell lake runabout years ago and i got the mahog. from the highschool shop teacher. if i remember correctly, i had to put the money up front, but at the price it was well worth it. the shop teacher just puts in an order for materials and hands the money over to the financial office at the time he puts in the order. allot of people don't realize you can do this, but it's an excellent source to get hard to find woods easily and at really good prices. the instructor will most likely be interested in your project, as well, mine was, and i ended up using the school's planer and shaper to ship-lap the material when it came in.

[FRPWoody]

Gonzo, I don't have to match any grain. There is little to salvage on top. Former owner bondoed the rot and painted over with some bright blue stuff that is harder than a brick bat.The bondo seems to have excelerated the rot. The only thing the blue stuff is hurting is my eyes. I'm glad to hear that these domestic hardwoods will work for this application. Thanks!

[FRPWoody]

Capt'n ron, Local schools will be back in session a week from now. I'll check in to that. Haven't given up on mahogany yet.