Replies

1. 
   dherzig | Apr 10, 2007 01:21am | #1

   If I remember right several years ago, in one of This Old House projects in the SW, they made kitchen cabinets out of mesquite.

1. 
   rjones69 | Apr 10, 2007 01:29am | #2

   Yeah it appears that it's pretty easy to come in the SW so that would make sense.  Seems that for the most part it's very stable, but tough on tools?

2. 
   GaryW | Apr 10, 2007 01:45am | #3

   Wooden boat builders turned it into mallets and prefered it for its hardness and the sound when the mesquite mallet hit the caulking iron. As with lignum vitae mallets, the caulker could tell how tight the cotton was driven between planks by the sound.

   I've worked with it, but I truly can't imagine it for cabinets or furniture. I'd reserve mesquite's rich brown wood for small projects only. I think it was used for fence posts in the SW, which I think it'd be good for.

   Gary W

   gwwoodworking.com

3. 
   Joe Sullivan | Apr 10, 2007 02:52am | #4

   Mesquite is very hard, and somewhat prone to checking, or so I'm told. The trees do not grow long and straight, so good lumber is hard to get. It is often quite knotty, and often has voids.

   Around here where the stuff is a weed, it is common in small projects like knife handles and boxes. One of the best uses, though, is as wood fo BBQing. The smoke is quite delicious on beef pork and kid goat.

   The most creative use I have seen was in an interesting floor in the clubhouse of a horse breeding operation in South Texas. They had used the endgrain of mesquite cut on the property to make a very hard floor. The used all different sized, arranges to sort of flow traffic towards entrances and gathering spots. It was quite beautiful.

   Joe

4. 
   ctsjr | Apr 10, 2007 05:34am | #5

   Mesquite is very hard, and can have a reversing grain--part of what makes it so beautiful. It is hard on planer and jointer knives. I've used a hand plane on it, but it was my new LV bevel up smooth plane, and was very sharp. Left a super smooth surface once I figured out which way the grain was running. Here's a link to a lumber dealer in Abilene, TX. Mesquite trees grow quite large there, and this dealer is cutting boards as wide as 29". The mesquite lumber I've had has been very stable--doesn't move a whole lot. Very hard and dense. Hope that helps. Tom

   http://www.mesquite-lumber.com/index2.html

   "Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
1. 
   rjones69 | Apr 10, 2007 06:22am | #6

   Awesome input!  thanks guys