Mesquite Shell??????????

[Thomas Canfield]

A friend presented me with a Mesquite tree trunk that had branced to 3 trunks. After looking at it for considerable time on how to utilize it, this was my thoughts and outcome. It is about 13" dia, 11" high, and walls 1/4" or less with 1" thick bottom for mass to make it more stable. It has 5 coats of poly/oil mix finish buffed with tripoli before and after all coats and Renaissance wax. Wife says it is a keeper, but it won't hold much.

[John Keeton]

Beautiful wood!! And, an interesting shape. I think you maximized the wood very well on this one.

[Richard Madison]

Nice piece Thomas.

[David E Keller]

I love mesquite, and I love the look of this piece. Great job.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking piece. Gotta love mesquite.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice work Thomas! Great display piece! Beautiful wood and finish!

[Curt Fuller]

That's really nice. I'll bet you had some serious whackety whackety going on while turning that one!

[Tim Browne]

... Wife says it is a keeper, but it won't hold much.

Won't hold much? I'll bet it holds the attention of everyone that sees it. Beautifully done!

[Dennis Ford]

It certainly holds my attention! Great imagination to design this piece and great job on the execution.

[Roland Martin]

Nice job Tom. Holds my full attention also, good line Tim. I have to say, that had to be one scary spinner!

[Baxter Smith]

Very interesting! I enjoyed your pics of how it was done as well! Makes me see new possibilities! Thanks!

[Donny Lawson]

Great shape. Very interesting. Does a bowl like that take alot more time to make than a regular bowl?Alot more skill involved maybe?
Donny

[Thomas Canfield]

Donny,

The piece took a LOT more time. The cutting speed was very slow due to all the air gaps, out of balance, hard to mount, and then all sanding had to be done without lathe power. I took extra caution to make sure that my hands were always behind the tool rest and to try to take little cuts to avoid a major catch. This definitely was a learning experience, and gave me some confidence that even something this odd could be made to work. It made me look at some of the other pieces of wood with a different look and not just the round piece.

[Wayne Bower]

That is an awesome piece.