Mesquite bentwood table

Wow. The design is wonderful. I really love the top.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Scott,
that is a beatutiful table! How thick is the table top? You have really done a fantastic job on this one. I love your use of mesquite. It’s amazing that many people down in texas see mesquite as nothing more than trashwood, to be burned as soon as they can cut it up into small pieces. it makes me sick, especially when i see such peices as yours out of this supposed “trashwood” that is way to nice to burn or even bar-b-que with, although that last comment may get me in trouble with blue stingray boots. how did you do the bent stretcher? is it thin laminated strips of mesquite or did you steam and bend it?

-- "Who but a fool would discard seeminly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent engineering" -- Aldo Leopold

Yeah everytime I drive thru Texas and see all these large piles of mesquite bulldozed up on ranchers lands to be burned it makes me wish I had a saw mill and a way to pick it up.I just don’t understand why it’s so expensive!!! I guess it’s hard to get a decent size.Yes the bending was done by laminating 1/8” strips in a bending form and urea resin glue. Top isn’t real thick about 1 1/4 with stretchers underneath for stability

-- Scott NM,http://www.shangrilawoodworks.com

Who ever said mesquite was T-wood was obviously not a woodcrafter, and had far too much mesquite to know what to do with. Woodchips, can I send you a box of firewood?lol

Awesome Scott, I just ordered a biscuit joiner, I’ll try to match you. How do you get it flat or true? Is it 100% true?
I see that and think “Texas picnic” on the ranch. Big stars, flowers, beautiful dresses and thourobreds….

Thanks Scott for sharing.

I thought you would have something to say about that 5 letter dirty “T” word.I use a local cabinet shop that has a huge 38” drum sander that makes my tops dead flat ,on this one we did the two glued up halves seperatly since overall table was 5ft wide then I only had the one glue line to take care of when put together.If you can find a shop in your area that will do that for you it’s great only takes 20 min or so and this guy charged me $35.

-- Scott NM,http://www.shangrilawoodworks.com

Blue,
feel free to send me a box of ”firewood” anytime you want to! :D Seriously though i haven’t got a real good set up yet for re-sawing small logs, yet. next year a bandsaw will be joining the ranks of my somewhat sparse tool arsenal. until then i’ll just have to salivate over all those piles of beautiful furniture in log form.

Scott,
there’s a sawmill that deals exclusively in mesquite, pecan and one other kind of wood that i can’t remember right now, but point is they are in my old hometown of Bastrop, TX. and i’ll try to look them up and see if they’ll be able to supply wood by shipping it cheaper than you can get it. how much do you pay per BF? that way i’ll have an idea of what the price to beat is.

-- "Who but a fool would discard seeminly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent engineering" -- Aldo Leopold

Gorgeous table Scott. I don’t know which got my attention more, the legs/stretchers or that inredible top.

-- I've cut that board three times and it's still too short!

That is a great table, Scott. I just like all of it.

-- Thos. Angle

I really like the design and the execution and craftsmanships. Nice work.

-- Kaleo , http://www.kalafinefurniture.com

beautiful table.. beautiful design.

shame to hear about the “firewood” loss.. you’d think we’d be more respectful, with all of our talk about caring for the environment… sheesh

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Absolutely stunning. Mesquite is a wood that you just do not see on the east coast. At least I have never seen any of it.

Great job. My wife loves it too.

-- -- Rob Hix, King George, VA

Beautiful job. I never new that mesquite got that big. I thought it was more of a bush.

The bookmatch turned out great. How did you do the inlay?

Bill

-- Make Dust

Great table the curved wood really sets it off.

A truly great table.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Holy moly. Just wow.

Beautiful table! Love the design!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

How did i miss this one? Great lines. All around wonderful.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

That’s why mesquite is so expensive as lumber, Dollar. In most parts of Texas, it does grow much as a bush and is considered parasitic to most ranchers. It grows fairly quickly, but in mostly twisted knarly shapes, so it’s difficult to get boards longer than 5 ft and / or wider than 5 inches. Larger boards tend to have voids that need to be filled. And there are variations in color by region. West Texas mesquite tends to yellows and south Texas mesquite tends to reddish browns. It does chap me to see it being burned and I wish I was set up to mill it myself when I see especially thick straight logs. Many ranchers are starting to see mesquite as an asset though and are thinning instead of bulldozing and burning it. Even the stunted, twisted pieces make great firewood and smoking wood. When I thickness plane mesquite I save the shavings in plastic zip-lock bags. A couple handfuls thrown on the coals really makes chicken taste great and makes a rib-eye sing…............

-- If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free! PJ O'Rourke

Exceptional! I echo everyone’s comments on the design. I’m from West Texas originally and didn’t often get to see the reddish variety or large trees either. LJ.com has given me a new-found respect for it.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

I missed this baby too. This table just seems to flow. Excellent.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

Scott, I missed this on the first time by! This is to your usual standard.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Thanks everyone!!This table was a lot of fun.I would urge any who can get a hold of a piece of Mesquite to try a project ou of it.It’s a striking wood but a liitle hard to work and take care of the defects like Tom mentioned

-- Scott NM,http://www.shangrilawoodworks.com