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Need ideas for Mesquite stump and firewood

4K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Karson 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I was near San Antonio last weekend (I was playing in a volleyball tournament for really old guys) and I stopped at a firewood vendor and picked up some mesquite firewood and a stump. I have 20 pieces of firewood about 12×3 x 3 and a stump that is 18 inches tall and 14 inches at the bottom and 9 inches at the top. BTW - I paid $5 for 20 sticks of firewood and $5 for the stump. Based on the mesquite lumber prices, sounds like a good deal.

Mesquite Stump & Firewood

Mesquite Stump End

I need some help with a few things.

Can I just slice up the firewood and let it dry? Since I'll use it for small scale projects. Don't need standard 4/4 thickness. Any problem air drying it at 3/4 or 2/4? Anything I should know about air drying mesquite? I'll probably keep a few sticks at 2×2 or 3×3 for turning. Do these just dry longer. Do I need to seal the ends? Can I do this without a moisture meter?

Need some ideas on how to use the stump. I could just take some slices off it. Should I slice it horizontal or vertical? Seems that horizontal could be uninteresting and all end grain. Could also get several bowl blanks (I have a small lathe so the largest bowl I can turn is about 7"). If bowl blanks, how should I slice it? Could also go for a vase. Should I slice it then dry it?

Bottom line :
If you had this wood what would you do with it? I've already decided I'm not using it for firewood.
 
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#2 ·
I'd run a chainsaw through the middle of the log, from top to bottom. Bowl turners quite ofter use wood that has grain going from side to side to you could see the figure and cut planks on a bandsaw and/or bowl blanks
 
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