My first "successful" lathe project

[dusty]

Jason -- have you ever turned Mesquite?

I have a supply of really nice wood, from a large tree in my sister-in-law's yard. If you'd be interesting in some to try, maybe you have some local wood to trade?

I've done a couple trades like this -- gives you a chance to try something not readily available to either of us... inexpensively.

Doug;

Please don't tell me that mesquite is good to turn, Please.

I recently gave away the wood from a major trimming of mesquite trees on my property. It wasn't 100s of board feet of would have been a lot of turning stock.

How about palo verde. I have a couple trees I would give up if the lumber was any good.

[jbooher]

Sorry Dusty but mesquite is a very good turning wood. I have made several bowls out of it. Mesquite is very stable even when wet. The draw back is that it tends to have voids thru out. Check the internet and you will find several dealers of Mesquite in AZ and Texas.

James

[baysidebob]

Dusty, I have never turned any Mesquite but I have been told that it is very similar to Myrtle Wood that is found along the coast of Southern Oregon. I have turned some Myrtle Wood and it is really a beautiful wood. Several years ago I had probably 20 Maple trees removed from my property. This was before my SS days and just needed to get rid of the trees. The gut that took them down for me was very happy to cut them up and haul them away for me. Didn't hardly charge me anything at all. Not sure what he did with the wood, but I really hope it was put to good use. There seems to be quite a bit of Mesquite in Arizonia, so maybe you will come across again someday.

Bayside Bob, Calif.

[jnimz]

Jason -- have you ever turned Mesquite?

I have a supply of really nice wood, from a large tree in my sister-in-law's yard. If you'd be interesting in some to try, maybe you have some local wood to trade?

I've done a couple trades like this -- gives you a chance to try something not readily available to either of us... inexpensively.

Hey gilamonster,

I have not tried any mesquite yet. About the most exotic I have around here would be aspen, and I haven't found a good supply to turn, but once I do, I'll take you up on that offer!

[gilamonster]

Please don't tell me that mesquite is good to turn, Please.

How about palo verde. I have a couple trees I would give up if the lumber was any good.

Dusty -- depends on what you mean by 'good to turn'. It is quite hard, but has beautiful grain. Cut it right and you have two colors -- dark inside with light sapwood.

It's also great firewood! When I lived in the Valley, and trimmed my Mesquite, I cut the branches up into 1-2" pieces, threw them in a box and (still!) use them in the barbeque. Great flavor.

About Palo Verde -- I don't know. I had a couple of those trees, but never got around to trying any of the wood. Didn't think it had very interesting grain...

Up here in Pine, we have mostly .... um, pine! Whoda thought? lot of alligator juniper, and what everyone calls 'black oak'. I have turned some of that oak...very fine grain for oak, and very hard.

I've traded some of the mesquite for maple and walnut with a fella in NC. He wants all the Mesquite I can send him <G>

[gilamonster]

I have not tried any mesquite yet. About the most exotic I have around here would be aspen, and I haven't found a good supply to turn, but once I do, I'll take you up on that offer!

Sounds good! Aspen is pretty soft and turns easily. But sands smoothly. I'd say its biggest drawback is that it has no figure. Very plain.

You could very easily get a piece to turn... just go cut off part of a branch. Turn it wet, see how you like it.

I've got a lot of Mesquite here when you are ready!

[horologist]

Also I couldn't figure out why a flat bevel would be better than a hollow ground one, until I went to a traveling Academy. It was there I learned a better way to use the tools from what I had been doing. Rick taught us to "ride the bevel" into the cut. Magic words - "Ride the Bevel"! Letting the flat bevel ride on the spinning wood then raising the handle slightly until the tool cuts really works wonderfully well. It is my guess a hollow ground bevel would not be so easy to control.

Chuck,
Interesting, I have two identical sets of SS chisels that have never been sharpened. I may try sharpening one on the strip sander and one on the tormek and then comparing the two.

[Ed in Tampa]

[quote="dusty"]Doug]


Dusty
They sell mesquite here in the woodcraft for turning, also sell it in the barbque stores for smokers.

Anyone know anything about an Earpod tree? My neighbor had a huge huge huge tree fall over the other day over $1000 just to remove it. However the wood seems really weird full of water and pukey. The tree service is running 12" diameter logs through the chipper. I was amazed the machine could do it. I talked to them and they said if the wood was oak or even yellow pine it couldn't handle this large a trunk but with the junk wood I could.

I was going to get them to cut me a piece for one of the huge huge huge trunks, there were four about 24" in diameter each. The tree split four ways and came down. No wind, no ice nothing, it just fell over roots and all. The created of pile of chips about 30 feet in diameter and about 12-15 feet high. This was a huge huge tree. Today they are going to start on the sister tree just as big that is still standing but the owner is afraid it might come down.

Can someone tell me is it is worth trying to turn this tree before I drag a huge piece of it home???????

[Ed in Tampa]

Never mind the Earpod tree is gone. The managed to clean up the first one yesterday and today the cut down and ground up the second one in about an hour. It wasn't as large and since they could cut it up as they wanted they could make more efficent cuts and get it done quickly.

I searched the internet on the tree and from what I could find it was considered a pest tree with little usable value. I did learn crafters use the Earpods in crafts. Here is a picture of two of them side by side. [ATTACH]3103[/ATTACH]