: I'm building a Cunningham SOF, cedar frame, oak ribs. Everyone
: seems to use a hardwood masik, so I made one out of mahogany I
: had laying around the shop. Just wondering, why couldn't the
: masik be cedar? Are the stresses / loads on it too much for
: softwood?

Since the masik is curved and unless it was cut from a crook, you'll have the grain at some point running across the narrow part of the piece and the cross grain strength of softwood isn't as strong as most hardwoods. Laminated softwood might be an option where you can orient the grain in the direction it does the most good.

Bill H.