I recently returned from a trip to the Southwest and fell in love with furniture made from mesquite. The color and figure, at least to me, was stunning. I know that this is a relatively rare wood for furniture (most people use it for firewood or to smoke their steaks). But I am considering building a bed with it.
Have any of you all used it, and if so, any advice would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
pmm
Replies
Hey PMM, I live in Tucson and frequently saw my own lumber from mesquite trees. It is a very hard wood and rare to find in large boards because the trees are relatively small. Also it's rare to find mesquite boards without a significant amount of cracks. There are roughly 5 different kinds of mesquite grown here locally. Some are nicer looking than others, my favorite is honey (texas) mesquite which is redder in color than the more common velvet mesquite. I may have those confused?? Anyway, we usually fill the cracks with epoxy (tinted black). I would despair of finding enough good lumber to make something as large as a bed, but then I would'nt pay for mesquite so you may be more fortunate. If you have any specific questions, ask away! Chris
ChrisAt the risk of a very old cliche', mesquite trees in West Texas do grow to be quite large, and there's at least one lumber dealer that's marketing mesquite lumber in long, wide boards. His bandmill can handle logs up to 29" wide and 12' long, I believe. Here's the link: http://www.mesquite-lumber.com/index2.htmlI love mesquite lumber and furniture. When I get my shop put back together after this move, I'm going to finally build the two end tables I've been planning for a good while. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Hi Tom, I'm not too familiar with trees that grow in Texas, but I am familiar with honey mesquite. The trees dont grow that large here, but maybe the soil or a better average rainfall contribute to larger trees in Texas. Although his bandmill can handle a large size log, the boards I see in the pictures are about the size I would expect to see. Are you moving from Orange to another city? Get a better shop space (I hope)? Chris
ChrisWe just moved to Orange, and I'm trying to get set up in the garage here--going to take a bit of an effort. Good points--garage is insulated and finished out, so it's much cooler than the last one, and the attic space above offers great storage. Bad points--there's one 60 watt bulb in the middle of the ceiling and one 110 socket on the back wall--that's all. I've got to get an electrician out to install some lights, and there's one circuit breaker left in the panel, so I'll get some outlets installed as well. The panel is in the garage, so that will help. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Tom, that sounds like my situation. My garage was'nt finished when I started so it was easy to run the electrical and then insulate and drywall. I put 6 outlets in at standard height, I regret that now. They are always behind something (cabinets, workbench). So, put yours up higher. One space left, are you going to need 220?
I don't have any 220 tools yet, and don't plan on buying any till I get a 'permanent' shop space with AC. I'll add the lights to the existing circuit and the outlets to the new circuit. This garage is deeper than the previous one, but it has a 3.5" step up that really complicates my situation. All of my tools are on mobile bases, and I can still get both vehicles in the garage at night--well, I can when the garage is set up. The step up is 51" wide/deep, so now I've got my bench, bandsaw, jointer and table saw up there. I'm building a ramp to move the tools I need down to use and back up when not in use. In the other garage, everything was around the perimeter of the garage, but this one is not wide enough. I'm going to get a storage building in the back yard for the lawn and garden stuff--mower, edger, rakes, hoses, etc. This garage also has the gas hot water heater, so all flammables have to go in the storage building. I'm a pastor, and this is a parsonage--church furnished house. They've been VERY accommodating and supportive of my hobby. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I had a 1400 SQ Ft shop from which I ran my business. I gave it up 4 years ago and started working from home. My two car garage has all my business equipment and inventory plus my woodworking tools. Space is tight to say the least. I always want to reconfigure things to make working easier, but then I want to spend what little shop time I have to making projects and not to cleaning up and rearranging, or building shop cabinets etc. I have the same step up on which I keep my mini lathe and all acoutrements. I built a closet around the water heater when I moved home and finished out my garage. Your very fortunate with your congregation, but I would wager they feel fortunate to have you. Chris
Thanks, Chris. This is a good match, so I hope to be making shavings in this garage for a good long while. In my previous 'shop', I kept tweaking it, moving a few things around until I absolutely couldn't squeeze another large power tool in. I imagine I'll do the same thing here. My next two purchases will probably be dust collection and a drill press. We'll see....the storage building will help alleviate some of the garage overcrowding. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I've been eyeing a dust collector myself for some time, I've let 3 or 4 go by on craigs list these past couple of months. I need to educate myself on what to buy before I pull the trigger. Too many times I've purchased the wrong thing and then have to rebuy the correct item, or worse just deal with the wrong tool. I'll wait until I'm ready to do the research and then buy. You know I have a shed for my garden tools, I may get another to house some of my business items, open up some needed shop space! Chris
Diito on the black epoxy for the cracks. I have also seen "stuff" mixed in with the epoxy such as turquoise pieces and or different colors of glitter. It gives a pretty cool effect. WW 57
I've built a few pieces from mesquite, very hard, and I wouldn't want to cut dovetails, but it machines and finishes beautifully. Large boards are available from the right supplier- here's the one I used: http://www.cswoods.com/index.php. It's not cheap, but I really like it.
Yeah turners use alot of that stuff. Heres a link to a great site for that sort of thing, if you use it, you wont believe how fast the shipping is, he ships the same day you order if it's not too late for pickup www.arizonasilhouette.com/ . Chris
I was given a chunk of mesquite by US friend, and am interested in using it as infill in a handplane. An unknown quantity in Australia. How stable is this wood? It certainly would end up striking looking.
Regards from Perth
Derek
DerekMy understanding is that mesquite is very stable--doesn't move much if at all after milling. That from a conversation with the fellow in Abilene, TX. A while back, one of our fellow Knots readers posted a chart of hardwood stability, and mesquite was # 2 or 3 on the chart. (Was that Bob@Kidderville?)With the very hard, dense woods you are used to working with, mesquite will be very familiar, I'd guess. Mesquite is amazing stuff--great furniture, wonderful bbq wood, seed pods that are a sugar source, etc. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Derek, mesquite is good choice for infill. The shrinkage ratio is nearly 1 making it extremely stable for planes.
I used a piece cut here locally for one of Ron Breese's small smoother's.
Steve Pippins
PMM
I've only built small items with mesquite so far, but your bed project is not out of reason. You may pay a premium for the boards you need, but they should be available. Mesquite is very hard, very dense and pretty tough at times to work, especially with hand tools. The grain is very inconsistent--part of what makes it so beautiful. I've got links to several mesquite lumber dealers in Texas. I've posted one from Abilene and here's another:
http://www.mesquiteburl.com/
Tom
PS--I've never bought from these guys before. I've talked with Terry Lankford in Abilene, but never got around to an order.
"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Edited 10/12/2008 10:16 pm by ctsjr82
Mesquite is an UGLY tree but with a beautiful heart(lumber). WW 57 from West Texas
Mesquite and mountain cedar are two weed trees around here, north Texas, that both turn beautifully. The cedar is used for fence posts, mesquite for bbq.
One problem I had turning mesquite is the wood borers love it. I thought my first chunk was very wet as I was turning because of all the "wet" hitting me in the face. I stopped and saw many half grubs sticking out. Switched to a face shield.
Jim
There was a stand of fire-killed mesquite on the big island of Hawaii, we cut some for firewood (lived at high altitude). Darned stuff would throw sparks from a chainsaw and the termites were entertaining in the fireplace :-)
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