A mess ....of Mesquite! (More nice friends....)

David Hill

I collect & use Texas woods---but prefer Mesquite.
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One my patients s while back had asked of I would be interested in a “big” Mesquite that waa in the middle of a building project— sure I said, and forgot about it. Until a few days ago ,“It’s ready!”
I went and picked it up today—- man!,that wood is heavy! Since he had help, we muscled and leveraged it into the trailer. That big piece took 5 of us to move it snd persuade it to flip into the trailer. The smaller trunks are at least 12” across and average about 6ft long.

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DKMD

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Hell of a deal! Looks like there’s a lot of clean wood in those logs.
 

Steve in VA

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Those look to be slightly larger than the piece you sent me!

Great grab and have fun processing it all! :saw:
 

Byron Barker

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Mate, if you can get me a nice 3ft board out of that you will be my hero! I've been wanting to make a bow out of mesquite for years now. Seriously, let me know if you'd be willing to sell or trade some.
 

Nature Man

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Congrats! Tremendous load! Would love to have a few boards if shipping weren't so outrageous! Chuck
 

David Hill

I collect & use Texas woods---but prefer Mesquite.
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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
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Mate, if you can get me a nice 3ft board out of that you will be my hero! I've been wanting to make a bow out of mesquite for years now. Seriously, let me know if you'd be willing to sell or trade some.

Hmmm..… an interesting thought. I think the shipping would be the devil. Plus, I don't kiln dry any of my wood, so I cannot guarantee that the wood is bug free---lots of critters like 'skeet. Not to rain on the parade, but because of the way Mesquite grows with the all the twisting and turning, it tends to have a lot of ringshake, not something good for a piece that will require a lot of flexing--not saying that it can't be used as bow--but I'm skeptical.
I'm sure that one or two others will weigh in on this. @Nubsnstubs
 
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Nubsnstubs

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Hmmm..… an interesting thought. I think the shipping would be devil. Plus, I don't kiln dry any of my wood, so I cannot guarantee that the wood is bug free---lots of critters like 'skeet. Not to rain on the parade, but because of the way Mesquite grows with the all the twisting and turning, it tends to have a lot of ringshake, not something good for a piece that will require a lot of flexing--not saying that it can't be used as bow--but I'm skeptical.
I'm sure that one or two others will weigh in on this. @Nubsnstubs

Thanks for the tag, David. Nice haul. I was offered a Mesquite the other day. 24" od trunk, and possibly upwards of 50" tall, but in reality turns into 30 if you're lucky. My trailer was loaded up the day before, and my property is starting to look like a fire hazard. So, I turned it down. Now, I'm getting antsy to contact the person in my club that mentioned it to see if it's still available.....

@Byron Barker, I'm a flintknapper. My passion in life is to make points, or rather, just beat on rocks to see what can be made. As a child, I made many bows, but as an adult, I've only made 2. Not having a good source for wood, I would rather beat on a rock. I've always heard that some of the Abos here in the Southwest used Mesquite for their bows. It's been my experience that Mesquite has this tendency to snap almost in a straight line across the grain. When I get any length of Mesquite for BBQin', I just hit it on a block, rock, or anything solid and it breaks. I was told by someone more knowledgeable than me that Mesquite is a short grain wood.

But, I've gotten some 3" diameter branches that defy breaking. You smack them across a block rock or any other object that is solid, and you feel like that cartoon character that does this vibration thing after smacking something. But, I believe when it drys out, it'll break, or will be infested with bugs. ........... Jerry (in Tucson)
 
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barry richardson

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As far as the bugs go, put the wood in the freezer for a couple of days, the bugs that eat mesquite aren't evolved to survive a hard freeze...
 
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