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Mesquite

G

Greg Kaldor

Joined
Mar 8, 2005
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Hi All,
I have some friends going out to Arizona in Feb. and they said they would get me some Mesquite. That leads me to 3 Questions. Where could I tell them to go? About how much should I expect to pay? How does this wood behave on the lathe? Any input?
Thanx,
Greg
 
I don't know how much mesquite grows in AZ. It does grow a lot in southeast Texas. The San Antone (San Antonio for all yankees) area has a bunch of it. Also there is some east of the Austin area.
 
It depends on where you get it. If you go to a wood boutique, you are apt to pay a pretty penny. If you go to a place that cuts mesquite for firewood, it is really cheap. There are some big firewood operations in Texas and if you explain that you are a woodturner and what you want, you can usually sift through the wood before its gets split. One sawn and waxed blank from a boutique sells for about the same price as a trunk full of "free range" wood.

Bill
 
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Mesquite varies a lot in color. South Texas it is very dark but I have seen some that is almost yellow from other parts of the country. I don't know where the light colored stuff come from. Just watch what you get.
Mesquite is a very nice turning wood. If you have a bug problem, and you likely sill, put it in the freezer for a week. That will kill the bugs.
 
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