Any Suggestions?

[Kenneth Whiting]

I picked up this Mesquite "blank" from Woodcraft over the weekend. They had a bin of them for $10.00 each. When I got to them, there were only 2 left. This 1 and 1 that had a very pronounced crack running through most of it. I wanted to do a NE but noticed afterI left that it might not work the way I wanted because of the cut off limb on it. I could trim it down quite a bit but I was hoping to get as large a bowl from it as possible. I also noticed the pith running right through it.

I really need to stop getting anxious and pay more attention. If you had this, what would you do with it? It is about 10x10x6

[David E Keller]

I'm not the best at this sort of thing, but I doubt there's a large, pith-free, natural edge piece in that chunk. I'd probably make a few boxes and maybe a small NE vessel. I don't do long hollow forms(yet), but you could probably get a vase or two out of it. Obviously, lots of pen blanks and bottle stoppers if you like that sort of thing.

[Kenneth Whiting]

Being that the Mrs. just started turning pens, she would love to hear that it all needs to be turned into pen blanks.

[Thomas Canfield]

Kenneth,

I have recently turned some bowls out of similar type blanks putting the bark to outside. I turned the outside trying to get the largest bowl and have solid wood (bark, sapwood, and heartwood combination). I then hardened the bark with thin CA and used a mix of epoxy and instant coffee to fill some of the visible cracks and worm holes. Wood dust can also be added for filler for larger voids. Additional epoxy mix may also be required after turning the inside to fill newly exposed voids or cracks. The epoxy mix can be color blended to contrast and the result looks almost natural. I like leaving some of the contrasting bark, outer yellow sapwood or light wood, and then the heart wood on the outside but prefer the heartwood on the inside or some solid sapwood. That is too nice a chunk of wood to turn to pen blanks. I would also try to use all the end with the limb to get that grain structure in the bowl. Good luck.

[Ron McKinley]

The pith in mesquite is usually quite stable and can become a "feature." Mesquite is the most stable wood that I know of. Mesquite can also have voids and small green limbs growing inside it that can be filled with CA and coffee grounds or epoxy and coffee grounds. Turquoise inlace also works great......Ron

[David Hullum]

It Makes some beautiful peppermills or winestoppers.

[Richard Madison]

Guess you could try an end grain hf, but prefer those to be pith centered. Always have CA handy to treat the hairline cracks as they appear, but lately just leave the worm holes, inclusions, or whatever just as they are, not filled. Stuff with holes and other "defects" sells lots better than a nice, solid piece of wood.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bo,

I'm nearly deaf. I have about 30-40% of normal hearing in my left ear and I'm stone deaf in my right ear. So I can't rely on sound to tell me when bad things are happening.

What I'd do is try to turn it into a bowl. That would appears like it should have some gorgeous grain in it!

If you have a bandsaw, cut it round. Cut pen blanks from that which you cut off and give them to the wife.

Turn it. Start at a slow speed ....increasing and watching for any vibration or changes in vibration........sudden increases..... At that point stop. If you have a crack repair it with instant coffee and epoxy. Let it sit over night and then continue. That piece of wood looks like it could have a lot of character.

I have only turned one piece of mesquite. A fellow Creeker sent a me a piece and it turned into a dandy winged bowl. My SIL and brother proudly claimed it. Mesquite is quite dense and turns hard but beautifully! It finishes well too! Go for it but do it cautiously. I think it's doable.

Good luck!

[Reed Gray]

Well, it doesn't look solid to me, too much checking, and worm holes. So choices would be an 'art' piece, or for me, cut it into small pieces for boxes. Not really worth the effort to turn a utility bowl out of it.

robo hippy

[Kenneth Whiting]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll see what I can make it do. Hopefully I can get a decent size bowl out of it.

[ROY DICK]

Save the shavings, no matter what you decide.
Throw them in the smoker. El Yummo.

Roy

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Save the shavings, no matter what you decide.
Throw them in the smoker. El Yummo.

Roy

Definetly save the shavings!

Mesquite is hard on tools, sharpen often. I'd try 1 bowl and cut the other into box blanks, pen blanks etc..... I think it makes wonderfully beautiful pens. Almost as nice as koa.

[Ryan Baker]

I wouldn't try to make a bowl from that, and definitely not a natural edge. Most likely, I would make an end-grain hollow-form blank centered on the pith. (It's hard to tell without having the real blank to look at.) Other than that, maybe cut a number of smaller box or vase blanks out of it. I would definitely cut out the pith, even though it is mesquite.

You certainly could get lots of pen blanks out of it if you want that.

Unlike TX, mesquite is a pretty rare thing up here. Another thing that comes to my mind is to cut it up to use for segmented work. Mesquite is a really good wood for segmenting -- I wish I could get a bunch of it.