Mesquite Madness

[Sancho]

Down the street from my home they recently cleared a lot that was over-run with brush revealing this mesquite tree. Do my eyes deceive me or is that the biggest mesquite burl I have ever seen? When I finally noticed it driving by, I had to hit the brakes and scare my poor wife (she thinks I am crazy to go all goofy for a hunk of wood).

Please, let me know if I am wrong about this being a burl. I poked at it with a tire jack, it is solid.

I need to contact the property owners to find out if I may harvest this. For a breif moment I even entertained myself with the idea of some black-ops/ninja midnight lumberjack operation.

 

[Jim Smith]

Even if it turns out not to be an actual burl, it will certainly yeild lots of very beautiful blanks for bowls, pens etc. Be careful when you cut it up with your bandsaw that you don't hit any nails of old fencing buried in there. Look for dark or discolored wood, especially streaks of black which indicated rusting iron.

If you're lucky enough to get permission to harvest this tree, please make sure to share some photos of the blanks you harvest.

Jim Smith

 

[sumterdad]

That would be a nice yield.

 

[seamus7227]

yep, it is what it is! get it and run!