Texas Mesquite

[Leigh Betsch]

I'm thinkng about making a run to Texas and load up a trailer load of mesquite. A friend of mine put me onto a lead where I might be able to get a load of wood without costing too much. So does anyone know how hard it is to dry mesquite, does it make a good wood floor, how hard is it to work with, and how much waste I an expect?

[lowell holmes]

Having built a mesquite chair, I will comment.

Often times mesquite has splits in it that require filling with epoxy to use. It can be brittle and have little structural strength. Mesquite has the lowest coefficient of expansion due to moisture.

It makes nice tables and chairs. There will be a lot of waste. Good quality mesquite with plank dimensions will cost about $9/bd. ft.

I personally would not use it in a floor.

To see piles of Texas mesquite check the following link.

http://www.texaskilnproducts.com/

:)

It is not difficult to work. I found it to be about like working cherry or walnut. Your hands will turn purple like working walnut. Rinsing your hands with real lemon concentrate will remove the stain on your hands.

[Aaron Wingert]

Lowell pretty much covered it all. Plan on tons of waste. Mesquite isn't like a maple tree for example....It grows curved, crooked, every which-way.

It would make a sweet looking floor but you'd be hard-pressed to get that much material and the waste pile would be awe-inspiring.

I've turned some mesquite and also found that a lot of checks/cracks are present and require filling. It is hard but works easy enough.

Either way I'd snag as much as possible. It is a neat wood!

[Tom Winship]

I agree with Lowell on all points. I have built a rocker and several bedroom pieces out of mesquite purchase from Texas Kiln Products in the last year. I think all they sell is kiln dried. There are a number of other mills that I have heard of throughout the state,http://www.mgsawmill.com/
http://southtexasmesquitesupply.com/
http://www.mesquite-lumber.com/
however, TKP is the only one I have experience with.
A lot of people will tell you that mesquite is so dry that you don't have to dry it, however, I don't believe that to be true.
On the flooring question, there are a lot of people who do mesquite flooring and the results are beautiful, however, due to that cracks, etc, and waste, the pieces are normally not much over 12" long.

Tom

[Trace Beard]

End grain mesquite was used as flooring for factories with heavy machinery in the 1900's because it was so hard. A museum in Kerrville TX used it for their flooring and it was stunning. I can't imagine how many jointer, planer and TS blades one would go through to mill enough stock.

http://museumofwesternart.com/default.htm

[Eric Gustafson]

the waste pile would be awe-inspiring.

The waste would make great firewood or even better smoking wood. It burns hot, the smoke is aromatic and flavors meat excellently.

[Rob Hough]

I'll take your waste for my bbq pit. :)

[Rod Sheridan]

Great link to that lumber company, I didn't know that mesquite grew that large.

I had always imagined it as a much smaller tree.


Regards, Rod.

[Cody Colston]

As said already, there will be a bit more than usual waste when working with Mesquite. However, it works great, has a great smell and is not hard on tooling, IMHO. There will be lots of bark inclusions, splits, checks and even worm holes and tunnels in the sapwood. I fill the voids and cracks with epoxy colored with lamp black and include them in the pieces I build. Those "defects" are part of the allure of Mesquite and add to it's look.

Since the trees are so gnarly, expect to pay more for any lumber over 5' in length. If getting green logs, have it sawn right away and remove any bark to lessen insect damage. I would let it air dry for a couple months at least before working it.

I buy all of my Mesquite lumber kiln dried but a green blank, turned to completion on the lathe will not warp or crack when drying. Mesquite is extemely stable. It makes a stunning and extremely durable flooring but if that is the intended use, you will be better off buying it already milled into flooring ...3 1/2" or 5 1/2" exposure, 2' - 6' lengths.

A former member here, KC Constable works almost exclusively with Mesquite and he can give you even more insight into it's qualities. I do know that he will glue a breadboard end on a table across it's full width and not worry about the table top splitting. As I said, it's a very stable wood. KC frequents Woodnet and Family Woodworking forums. He's not difficult to find online.

[Bill White]

End grain mesquite was used as flooring for factories with heavy machinery in the 1900's because it was so hard. A museum in Kerrville TX used it for their flooring and it was stunning. I can't imagine how many jointer, planer and TS blades one would go through to mill enough stock.

http://museumofwesternart.com/default.htm
Yep!! The end grain is cool. We were in a hotel in San Antonio several years ago that had the end grain floor. It looked GOOOOOD. Beautiful color too.
Bill

[Leigh Betsch]

Thanks. I need to make contact with my boddy and find out what a kind of a deal I can make for a trailer load. Driving all the way from SD to TX would mean I need to bring back enough and cheap enough to make it worth while, although I'm getting a bit of cabin fevor and want a raod trip anyway.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

A friend and I have a sawmill and commonly saw mesquite. We are getting to the northern limits of the state to find good mesquite - much further north and its hard to find anything but scrub. That said, if you can get access to bottomland some good mesquite are to be found here and somewhat further north. I measured one a couple years ago about thirty miles south of here that was four feet across. Of course the guy wouldn't let me have that one. :(

Once you get it cut, the wood is one of the easiest to dry of any. A guy once put it to me this way; get a board milled and just toss it in your yard and when you figure it's dry go pick it up. This is because the shrinkage (and expansion) is the same both with and across the grain. Of the hundreds of boards I've handled only a handful have cupped or bowed. Of course we stick it like any other wood and don't just 'toss it in the yard'.

Mesquite is commonly used for flooring. I have an acquaintance who I got to mill stuff before we got our bandmill and flooring was his mainstay. He made two types; the regular tongue and groove "boards" and end grain squares where he took a large enough mesquite to get a four inch square from and end cut. He did a commercial job in Dallas once he said took over 44.000 squares of the end cut.

And as far as waste it just depends how much cracking you are willing to put up with. I cut a couple pieces yesterday from boards that were about 8 or 10 inches wide and the widest strips of solid wood were less than two inches wide and not all that long. Most boards are better than that but a lot aren't. To use as much as possible I use wood flour cement. It's a petroleum based material that you mix fine sawdust with to make a paste and fill cracks with a putty knife. In the case of flooring my friend would make the stuff by the bucketfull and squeegee it into the wood. After it dried (overnight) he used a floor sander to level it out. In my case yesterday I was looking for good small stuff to infill with turquoise. It can be aggravating to get a piece that looks promising and cut it off a board and have it fall apart in your hands. :mad:

[mark kosse]

Liegh, Know what you getting before you come. In my experience it is rare to find a mequite more than 12" in diamiter. I'm not saying they don't grow bigger because they do. The majority are smallish and the trunk is usually< 4 feet before it splits into multiple trunks.

I anually kill about 2-3000 mesquite trees. I love the tree and the wood but they are pests and will overtake land pronto. The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame has a mequite floor in it. It is a lovely floor wood.

Not trying to dicourage you, just ask questions before you come.

[Alan Bienlein]

Here is a photo of a mesquite floor installed on a job I did. This is after it was flooded by hurricane Ike and didn't have to do any work to it after it was dried out. There is about 5000 sqft in this house and about 90% of it was flooded.
144158144159

[Leigh Betsch]

Any of you guys members of the Texas Mesquite Association? I hear there is a spring meeting coming up where a fella can learn about working with the wood and maybe by a load to come home with. I'm kinda thinking about trailering my Goldwing down to Texas, ride for a few days, attend the semnar, load up a trailer load and then come back up north. The wife says she in as long as we can do some riding before comnig back.
So anyone know about this club?

[Cody Colston]

I'm not a member but I knew it was held in Fredericksburg, TX. Springtime in the Texas hill country should make for a great ride. Here's a link with all the info... http://www.texasmesquiteassn.org/

[phil harold]

I picked up a log from my sisters place in burnet prior to christmas
It has an apointment with the lathe

hill country is pretty in the spring

[Richard M. Wolfe]

The spring show is in San Angelo.....Fredericksburg is in the fall.

[James Carmichael]

Any of you guys members of the Texas Mesquite Association? So anyone know about this club?

Yikes! I wouldn't let any farmers or ranchers down here know you're interested in such. Mesquite easily makes the Texas rancher's top 10 Most Hated Vermin list, right up there with property tax collectors and feral hogs.

[lowell holmes]

The current price list at Houston Hardwoods prices mesquite at $11 to $15 per board foot. They must not hate it too much. They can't make that profit from cows. :)

[James Ogle]

Do they still grow cows on the ranches. I thought they had all been converted to exotic game and hunting leases. Seems that way around here. They only thing ranchers hate worse than mesquite is cedar.

[lowell holmes]

I visit that part of the state freqently. I know what you mean.

I saw 6 doe clear a game fence near Johnson City one time. I don't think the fences are totally effective.

[James Ogle]

Texas Kiln has nice mesquite from $7-10. Never shopped M&G, too far to drive, but have a friend that buys a lot from them and he is always happy. He made a very nice rocker.

Last time I drove between Junction and Fredericksburg at night I literally spotted deer every 200-300 yards. Idiots kept passing me doing about 60. I try to avoid that stretch at night.

[Leigh Betsch]

Well it is looking like my road trip is getting called off. The other couple that was going along can't leave here until the 11th and my wife has to be back on the 15th which kills any time for a motorcylce ride thru the hill country. So a long drive for a trailer load of mesquite is probably not worht it.