Mesquite trees do not grow straight or tall. They tend to make multiple trunks and to make branches low to the ground. They twist. Most mesquite trunks of 12″ in diameter or more have many radial cracks, i.e. cracks from the heart of the tree to near the sapwood. Other cracks appear randomly. Knots and other defects are numerous. The grain runs in wild directions.
Therefore, it is difficult to find and produce sound and beautiful parts from cuts of mesquite wood. I would not use the term “lumber” for cuts of mesquite wood for “lumber” implies a structural integrity to the piece. We must search for a few parts in a sea of waste.
Recently, we received some mesquite wood that had been selected for us by the sawmill from a large volume of wood. At the mill, they used our patterns to find backlegs, but they did not understand our specifications and how strictly we adhere to our specifications. Hoping against certainty, we marked and milled this wood.
We sorted the legs. At the top of the photo, firewood. In the middle, maybe given enough epoxy filler and reinforcement. At the bottom, four good ones.
In the end, we used only the four.
