Mesquite, bois d' arc and more

wlhayesmfs · Post by **wlhayesmfs** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:17 pm

[ATTACH]9470[/ATTACH]

This is what some of the finished 6 x 6 timber in black walnut looks like. Can hardly wait to see the curly maple.

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:54 pm

Oooooh!
My mouth is watering. Add some Andouille and corn on the cob and FEAST!

Edit. I thought I was replying to the Crawdad pic post. But my mouth is watering over that Walnut, too.

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:47 am

Gene Howe wrote:Nope. I assume it has something to do with the French explorers???.

Gene, was as been illuded to in another post, it is French for Bow of the Arc (actually I believe it's Bough). The native indians made many of their bows from hedge apple trees and the french named the trees after that.

cv3 · Post by **cv3** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:18 pm

[quote="

This is what some of the finished 6 x 6 timber in black walnut looks like. Can hardly wait to see the curly maple.[/QUOTE"]

That is just great looking lumber!

billnpatti · Post by **billnpatti** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:22 pm

Those are some mighty nice looking mesquite boards. I don't know if you have ever done anything with mesquite before or not but if you haven't, let me give you some advice. Mesquite is prone to some serious checking and splitting as it dries. Be sure to seal the ends of the boards and protect them from heat as they dry. Even so, you will get a lot of checking but all you have to do is fill the checks with epoxy. This is the naturre of mesquite and filled checks and cracks are quite acceptable in projects made of mesquite.

billnpatti · Post by **billnpatti** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:34 pm

Bois d' Acr is known as hedge apple, osage orange, bodark among others. The original name Bois d' Arc id French for "Bow Wood" so named because the wood makes excellent bows.

I found out that there is a serious down side to working with this wood. It is hard and makes fine saw dust that gets all over you and your shop. I found this out when a friend gave me some for a project. My wife took my dusty clothes and threw them in the washing machine with other things. To her dismay, everything in the washer came out with a yellow cast to it.

When I showered, my wash cloth turned yellow.

I later found that the Indians used Bois d' Arc wood to make a yellow dye. My wife has forbidden me to make anything else from Bois d' Arc.

fiatben · Post by **fiatben** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:04 pm

Gene Howe wrote:Took some mesquite logs to a mill and had them canted so I could re saw them. They were all 48” long, or less.
After he canted then he gave me some 12/4 bois d' arc, Texas oak and cedar that he wanted to get rid of.

I am unfamiliar with the term "canted" and an online dictionary didn't help. Is this along the lines of quartersawn, etc. ? Care to enlighten me?

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:03 pm

To my knowledge canting the logs is squaring them on at least two sides which makes it easier to re saw them.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:08 pm

fiatben wrote:I am unfamiliar with the term "canted" and an online dictionary didn't help. Is this along the lines of quartersawn, etc. ? Care to enlighten me?

Looked up wood cants and found this definition:
Cant:A large slabbed log on the headsaw, usually having one or more rounded edges, which is destined for further processing.

A log with the slabs removed is a good way to picture a cant. I always thought of a cant as a square or rectangular shaped inside of a log. I also think of a Rail Road tie as being a cant. Guess the intention for future processing escaped me (if it's really necessary).

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:33 am

billnpatti wrote:Those are some mighty nice looking mesquite boards. I don't know if you have ever done anything with mesquite before or not but if you haven't, let me give you some advice. Mesquite is prone to some serious checking and splitting as it dries. Be sure to seal the ends of the boards and protect them from heat as they dry. Even so, you will get a lot of checking but all you have to do is fill the checks with epoxy. This is the naturre of mesquite and filled checks and cracks are quite acceptable in projects made of mesquite.

I've worked with mesquite before in making small stuff. The checking is not a problem. As you said, I fill it with epoxy and sometimes, powdered turquoise, silver or other stones and metal.