Willow
You said: “It seems something is killing pine trees in our area. Someone told me it was the pine beetle. What kind of damage does this do to the wood? Is it suitable for timbers? I have a stand of old yellow (I think) pines available to cut, some as big as 24" diam., but a lot of them are dead from this beetle or whatever it is. Some are not even touched.
If these trees are truly dead, no green needles on any branches, then you should cut them down soon. Any standing dead tree is subject to more insect infestation. If you cut these down and can’t mill them into timbers right away you should peel all the bark off them. This will reduce the attraction of further or other insects. I’m not familiar with the pine beetle in your area, but careful inspection of these timbers needs to be made. The biggest question is ‘how long have these trees been dead?” If it’s been only weeks or maybe a couple of months they could be still ok. But if they been dead standing for a long period of time, their quality will be highly questioned. And if they have been dead standing for a long time and the ‘bugs’ have got to them, they could be full of ‘holes’ created by these bugs. And you might not want a ‘new’ house or structure with timbers ‘full of holes’.
As for “I was also wondering what Malaysian Mahogany is like to work with. I thought it would be a beautiful floor.” I haven’t had any experience with this wood so I can’t help you. But you could go to the website
www.woodweb.com and ask this question on one or more of the many woodworking forums you find there. Good luck, Jim
