HERE IS WHY MESQUITE Lumber Is Really Cool for Woodworking
HERE IS WHY MESQUITE Lumber Is Really Cool for Woodworking
Mesquite isn’t just for grilling, good people. It’s also one SWEET hardwood for making awesome decorative projects and handsome furniture. Here’s a little info on the wood.
While we’re at it, this video will step you through a great wood finish on mesquite using a live-edge slab as test piece. So, you’ve got a lot to check out here! Give this video a spin and let us know what you think.
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https://www.woodworkerssource.com
*Products*
Mixol tint
2-part epoxy
General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Satin
Synthetic finishing pads https://www.woodworkerssource.com/tools/sand-paper.html
Mesquite lumber https://www.woodworkerssource.com/lumber/mesquite.html
*Tunes*
Funky acoustic rock Stock Media provided by lincoman / Pond5
Gritty Electro Western Rock Intro Stock Media provided by studiocat / Pond5
*Sounds*
Ding Stock Media provided by SoundJay / Pond5
Boom Stock Media provided by MellauSFX / Pond5
*Footage & Stills*
Desert drone Stock Media provided by jn14productions / Pond5
Desert drone Stock Media provided by FullFlip / Pond5
Mesquite tree Stock Media provided by FullFlip / Pond5
Mesquite tree animation Stock Media provided by lachetas / Pond5
BBQ Stock Media provided by olegbadak / Pond5
Stock Media provided by lachetas / Pond5
Customer project pics by Woodworkers Source staff & customer submissions
From Texas it’s was everywhere. Makes good fire wood. But I had a small set of bed side tables. 😕 Unfortunately my ex took them when she and I split. The neat thing I did because we did close hole with epoxy, some of the boards had holes . I used said holes as my drawer pulls for the drawers…
Really like the channel and how you go through all these different hardwoods… I wonder if you ever hear of or used Kosso… Thanks
I’ve been using exotic woods for my little shop projects. I recently cut down an apple tree. Once it’s dry enough, I’d like to build something with it besides a fire for smoking meats.
I cut down the biggest mesquite tree I’ve ever seen last week. The lady didn’t want it in the middle of her field and she knew I liked wood. Can’t wait to slab these up and get them dried.
Live in Buckeye and just had a neighbor give me his mesquite he cut down. Have a bunch of raw material, but need some more advice.
Question you mentioned ceiling both sides. I just did a walnut table top natural stain and polyurethane it do I need to polyurethane the bottom half and if I don’t will a crack or what thanks. Great video
Great wood—–Cant get it around here
I just cut a small slab of mesquite. I’ll have to keep this in mind when I make something out of it.
Well dang. I have acres of it here in the Rio Grande Valley.
Why add black to the filler? Why not natural? Anyway, great video, unique wood. Have you ever heard of catulpa wood? Great grain pattern, easy to work with.
in South Texas mesquite grows straighter and taller due to more water. I have friends that make dining room tables out of it. I know of local wood flooring manufacturers that use it for flooring. I love this stuff!
Great video. Great choice of wood species. I will remember and use the black epoxy idea for my projects as I think it is a perfect solution for color matching… Black goes with everything, or so says the wife!!
Like you, I love working with mesquite. I live in south Texas where the mesquite seems to grow a lot larger than the scrub mesquite you seem to have. I really don’t have the equipment to make boards with it, but I make mesquite tea candle lamps. Mesquite wood has a lot of character, especially if it has been laying around in the open for a couple of years and has worm holes and some parts rotted out. It’s also great for smoking, grilling and BBQs.
Hard wax finishes give a beautiful finish as well and take less work, and some don’t have harmful vapors. Is this video sponsored by arm r seal?
That Arm-R-Seal seems to handle like a shop-blended tung oil and varnish mix, a finish I’ve used for 30 or 40 years. Have you worked with the so-called hard oil finishes? I’m thinking of Odie’s but hate to drop a hundred bucks to try it. You do really nice videos. Best of luck.
Mesquite is great for turning. You can turn it right after you cut it.
Mark, your videos are really good. You are a natural.
I love the Tucson store and staff!
I am glad that you recommend black tinted epoxy. Black epoxy & mesquite are like butter & popcorn.
In my opinion, turquoise and other bright primary colored epoxies in mesquite are like howling coyotes, a passing fad.
From the comments, there are 2 things to add to your next video on mesquite:
1. Mesquite is very stable with less expansion and contraction from changes in humidity than most varieties of wood.
2. Federal & state governments have spent millions of dollars (unsuccessfully) trying to eradicate mesquite in the southwest.
It can be harvested sustainably. The most successful way to kill these trees is to use a backhoe & dig out the tree and root ball. $$$$$
The flyover in your video (0:34 to 0:35) of the Santa Rita experimental range* is just one of the countless places where they have tried for decades to remove these trees from grazing land and riparian areas. *(Flying toward Elephant Head in the distance)
Unfortunately, the native species of mesquite trees do not commonly grow to a size and shape that most large manufacturers can easily use.
However, South American species are very fast growing and do grow larger and straighter.
I have worked with a variety of mesquites including South American types and find it impossible to tell them apart on finished work. The only distinguishing feature is non-native mesquite seems resistant to attack from Megacyllene antennata (mesquite borer beetles) so they lack the worm holes usually found in air dried native mesquite logs.
Lastly, the tree shown from 0:36 to 0:38 & again from 0:45 to 0:47 is NOT a mesquite, but actually an Arizona White Oak, Quercus arizonica, covered in catkins and a few small new leaves, which happens in late spring immediately after the old leaves drop. Oracle AZ has an annual festival celebrating the oaks during this season. Carefully note the bark. The crooked branch pattern does look similar to mesquite.
For a remarkably similar view, see the background photo I took last October for my art group website: https://www.oracleartiststudiotour.org/
Did you clean out all the worm holes?
Looks a lot like butternut. Lots harder.
It should go without saying, but we really dig mesquite and think it makes beautiful woodwork. What you you think of it now?
BTW, check it out on our site sometime.
https://www.woodworkerssource.com/lumber/mesquite.html
Interesting procedure and simple chemicals. If you can find the stock. How did the butterfly stitch get installed?
My name implies. I Love Mesquite. The smell, The grain, The hardness.
Great channel when it comes to WOOD!
What do you think of honey locust lumber?
Mezquite is great. my mother in law has one in her backyard
Love it how it turns out you guys have some kick arse lumber over there but then again we have some awesome looking wood here in Australia cheers mate and keep up the good work
How did you get the steel legs onto the table?
Tucson AZ here.
I have a friend who makes beautiful desks, etc from mesquite. He has a secret source of giant mesquite logs from somewhere in Mexico that he will not tell me. Bastard!
If he finds particularly beautiful slab he saws it to 5/16" veneers. Yes, 5/16. He laminates it to a lesser, stable wood with a crap mesquite veneer on the off side to balance the wood against differential drying. The thicker veneer produces a more stable lumber which he can process prior to construction rather than having to veneer after construction.
Thanks for finally coverubg mesquite! Not a bunch of youtubers do, but we have it out at or property in west Texas and that is the first thing I ever tried to build anything out of ha. Great video!
Do you know anything about juniper as a building material?
Makes me regret burning all that mesquite we cleared last year. I’m saving every girthy piece of mesquite from now on. Thanks for the inspiration!
You make it look so easy, Mark. But that’s what a master woodworker can do. Another great video.
In Canada the enemy of the USA, but I love The USA. So, go figure ! Love your YouTube video.
What’s the web site to your lumber yard.
Just as a caution, the dust from sanding can really give a bad cough.
Must every sentence on YouTube open with an unnecessary "so?"
Tack cloth – thought about trying but I like the grain raising effect the denatured alcohol has. Can anyone give me a reason or scenario where a tack cloth would be a smarter choice?
Mesquite is the best wood. I’m not even sure why there are other kinds of wood. Great video.
My dad just had a 40-50 foot Mesquite fall in the last storm. I’m gunna go nuts when it dries.
Black mesquite is the bomb. I made a small bench and I always get asked what kind of wood is that.
What is the cost of mesquite compared to other US hardwoods?
I especially love mesquite for my tool handles.
Mesquite grows all over Texas and there ain’t no Sonoran desert here.😀
Excellent video. Inspires me to try out some Mesquite 👍👍👍
Thank you, I was at the Phoenix store yesterday asking about this exact topic.
It’s awesome for drum sticks, gun stocks, and smoking meat
I like Mesquite on the lathe. it is hard but cuts so well with sharp tools and makes a beautiful turned piece.
Mesquite is fantastic. Wish I could continue to work with it without worry. Unfortunately, I apparently have an allergy to it which causes me difficulty breathing and sever nasal congestion.
thank you . question please on cracks do you drill holes at both end to mitigate the crack from traveling like you do for metal ?
Sharp tools, STRONG tools at that. I have carved rock more forgiving to hand tools. But definitely a beautiful wood, with it’s own unique characteristics