Mesquite for Turning?

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Sammy-2016

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
58
Location
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Hello All :)
I am in the beginning journey of wood turning and still trying to get reasonably priced hardwood.
Here in San Antonio, Texas Mesquite wood is plentiful.
Is Mesquite appropriate for small turnings?
Really appreciate your advice
Thank you
Sammy
 
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Absolutely. Love turning mesquite, nice swirly grain. Small bowls sometimes I leave the bug tracks empty, sometimes I fill with turquoise. Polishes beautifully as well.
Earl
 
I have turned mesquite, and I find that it turns reasonably well although it can be a bit brittle. Finishes nicely.

One caution about using locally-grown wood - its probably going to be 'green' when you get it. It will turn beautifully, but you may be disappointed to find checks and distortion in those projects six months later. The rule of thumb is that it takes one year per inch of thickness for timber to dry out (ie, for the internal moisture content to equalize with ambient humidity).

If you look around, you might find sources of dry turning stock, especially for smaller projects. Shops that do custom furniture and cabinetry often have a bin of hardwood offcuts that you can buy for a very reasonable price. The only thing to be careful of is grain direction - if the offcuts are too short, the grain won't be in the right direction to allow them to be used for spindles. It's still possible to turn them, but turning narrow cross-grain stock takes a bit more skill than you might have just starting out.

When I first started out, I discovered a factory near here that makes treenware - bowls, platters and other kitchen items made of wood - and that sold odd scraps as 'kindling'. I was able to pick up quite a bit of maple, ash and birch from them - until they discovered that a better business decision for them was to save it to burn in the winter to heat their shop.

Another option is pallet wood. Yeah - throwaway wood, but sometimes you find pallets that were used to ship items from overseas and that are made of (by US standards) pretty exotic wood.

Home Despot and similar big box stores do carry a limited supply of a few hardwoods - typically poplar, red oak and maple. And there could be supplier who specializes in hard woods - but don't expect it to be inexpensive!
 
Firewood is another cheap source of wood. There's likely to be a lot of mesquite firewood for sale in your area.
 
Mesquite wood is very stable. I have cut it fresh off the tree and turned it. Little or no cracks or warping. I also used to be able get some at the city recycle yard from the firewood pile as it was being unloaded by the tree trimmers.
 
Thank you for the detailed replies and advice.
As you guys gathered I am still new although I signed up to the forum in 2016 but didn't really get a lathe until this last Xmas. I got the Excelsoir from Rockler. I like it so far but still practicing using the different turning tools.
I really appreciate you taking the time to elaborate.
I will turn a Mesquite and show you
Thanks again
Sammy
 
My first lathe was also an Excaliber. It's a good little lathe, and still going strong after 10 years. I have since added a NOVA DVR XP full-size lathe & mostly use the Excalibur to square my blanks with a sanding disk
 
I would love to get a bunch of smaller pieces. Pen blank sizes and some 2.5x2.5x5 pieces would be perfect. It just doesn't seem to be easily available. Will have to keep looking.
 
Hi Sammy
I'm also from the San Antonio area. You might want to look up a group called Alamo Woodturners Association. They meet locally and are a good source of information.
 
I can't add anything to what's already been said, but Mesquite wood is what got me into turning....

The wife and I were in an art gallery in Fredericksburg and they were displaying a red Mesquite bowl about 10 or 12 inches diameter that was so shiny it looked like glass... told the wife I really admired the artist that did that and would be nice if I had that much skill.... she called my son in Austin, told him I wanted a lathe for Christmas (I didn't know first thing about a lathe)... Christmas came and he showed up with a lathe from Home Depot... (He didn't know first thing about a lathe either)... he also brought a few pen blanks and kits... set it up in the garage and played with it for a while... was hooked..... he thought so much fun he was also hooked and bought himself a Jet1014, but his work kept him too busy and I wound up with it a year or so later... still have it..... he later bought another little Jet that had EVS... wound up with that one last year after he bought my friends Jet1642..... I turn mostly on a Jet1442 that I bought in 2008.
That Christmas was in 2000 or 2001, really don't remember, but since then I've graduated from pens to bowls, pepper mills and anything else I think of...
Point is, get the Mesquite, turn it and enjoy the ride.
 
TellicoTurning said:
I can't add anything to what's already been said, but Mesquite wood is what got me into turning....

The wife and I were in an art gallery in Fredericksburg and they were displaying a red Mesquite bowl about 10 or 12 inches diameter that was so shiny it looked like glass... told the wife I really admired the artist that did that and would be nice if I had that much skill.... she called my son in Austin, told him I wanted a lathe for Christmas (I didn't know first thing about a lathe)... Christmas came and he showed up with a lathe from Home Depot... (He didn't know first thing about a lathe either)... he also brought a few pen blanks and kits... set it up in the garage and played with it for a while... was hooked..... he thought so much fun he was also hooked and bought himself a Jet1014, but his work kept him too busy and I wound up with it a year or so later... still have it..... he later bought another little Jet that had EVS... wound up with that one last year after he bought my friends Jet1642..... I turn mostly on a Jet1442 that I bought in 2008.
That Christmas was in 2000 or 2001, really don't remember, but since then I've graduated from pens to bowls, pepper mills and anything else I think of...
Point is, get the Mesquite, turn it and enjoy the ride.
Click to expand...
Wow,
Thank you Chuck,
Very nice story.
I will definitely turn a few pieces from that dry Mesquite piece I bought from local hardwood store.
Sammy
 
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