A chunk of mesquite slab

[Wolf Kiessling]

Holy Superman, Lois! What the heck is it? Is it a turning? Is it a carving? Is it a piece of firewood?

It actually has elements of all. It came out of a firewood pile, the turning part is self evident and the edges have been heavily carved. Don't know exactly what it is.

Right now it is finished with two coats of BLO and will be completed with several more coats of True-Oil. So far it has been sanded to 220 but will probably end up being wet sanded to 600, maybe 1000, during the True-Oil process. I photographed it now because it is going to end up with a very high gloss and will be difficult (impossible for me) to shoot then.

I decided to title it and choose "kaetsani elohgib"

I guess some people just don't have enough to do. Thanks for indulging me.

Wolf

[Jim DeLaney]

I decided to title it and choose "kaetsani elohgib"
Wolf

And a Grade "A" Prime one it is, too!

[Mac McAtee]

A very nicely executed "It", if I may say so myself.

[Jason Roehl]

I decided to title it and choose "kaetsani elohgib"

Can we get a pronunciation on that? And, what "cut" is it?

[Jim Becker]

And a Grade "A" Prime one it is, too!

LOL!! Come to think of it...that's a really good observation! Even a little "fat" on that one end...

Wolf-- Great job! Very creative and we should all be reminded that turnings don't have to be round.

[Bruce Page]

Holy Superman, Lois! What the heck is it? Is it a turning? Is it a carving? Is it a piece of firewood?

It actually has elements of all. It came out of a firewood pile, the turning part is self evident and the edges have been heavily carved. Don't know exactly what it is.

Right now it is finished with two coats of BLO and will be completed with several more coats of True-Oil. So far it has been sanded to 220 but will probably end up being wet sanded to 600, maybe 1000, during the True-Oil process. I photographed it now because it is going to end up with a very high gloss and will be difficult (impossible for me) to shoot then.

I decided to title it and choose "kaetsani elohgib"

I guess some people just don't have enough to do. Thanks for indulging me.

Wolf

Very nice Wolf but Big hole in a steak??

[Tom Sweeney]

Wolf,
That's definately the nicest kaetsani elohgib I've ever seen !

Another good un!

[Dave Smith]

Nice work Wolf. I like it but, then, I am a little different.

Dave Smith

Did somebody say lunch in Longview, WA?

[Wolf Kiessling]

Can we get a pronunciation on that? And, what "cut" is it?

I guess most everyone has figured out that the real title of the piece is read backwards.

This item actually evolved from a sculpture I've been working on for the last couple of months, a new version of a stylized bull which I decided to mount on a piece of mesquite in the shape of a T-bone steak. I just took the remaining piece and made another "steak" out of it and decided it merited a few minutes on the lathe. I got a total of three items out of that piece of "firewood", two carving pedestals and one turning.

Wolf

[Keith Outten]

From Wolf's web site;

"In the pursuit of excellence, there is reward in the creation of a wondrous relationship between the artisan and the soul of the tree"

Seems to fit this piece very nicely...nice work Wolf!

[Wolf Kiessling]

From Wolf's web site;

"In the pursuit of excellence, there is reward in the creation of a wondrous relationship between the artisan and the soul of the tree"

Seems to fit this piece very nicely...nice work Wolf!

Thanks, Keith, and the others, for the kind words. I actually didn't think anyone ever looked at that part of my web site.

Wolf

[Ken Frantz]

Good morning from cold central Florida!!!!!! And good morning to you Wolf from a transplanted Okie from North Central OK.

Anyway just a comment on the "steak" Since I don't have a color printer hooked up to my computer. I printed the pictures in black and white. The "steak" looks REAL!!!!

Thanks fer the pictures!!!!!

KEN

[Chris Padilla]

Mesquite is quite a remarkable wood. There was a whole article in AW #87 (6/01) about it so I'll touch on the highlights:

Mesquite is exceptionally stable. Red Oak moves 11.3%, Maple moves 9.9%, Walnut moves 8.7 % and Mahogany moves 4.1%. Mesquite moves 2.6%! (The percent change in size is based on a swing in moisture content from 14% to 6%)

Mesquite doesn't distort or cup easily. If you take a tangential:radial ratio, Mesquite is at 1.2 while Red Oak is at 2.2 and Eastern Whie Pine is at 2.9. Cupping is usually the result of plain-sawn boards shrinking more in the tangential direction than radially. In most American species, this ratio is more than 2:1 but mesquite is closer to 1:1. This means boards tend to stay flat.

Mesquite is hard. The standard test for hardness is to measure the force it takes to drive a 7/16" steel ball half-way into a flatsawn board. In pounds of pressure, we have:

Pine is at ~660
Red Oak is at ~1120
Hard Maple is at ~1580
Mesquite is at ~2300

Mesquite's high silica content, high extractive content and extreme hardness can dull your tools quickly. Be sure to clean your tools (mineral spirits) to remove the buildup often. There isn't much oil in Mesquite so it can be sanded and glued easily. Due to its extreme hardness, it finishes quite nicely with fine sanding grits and buffing so very little finish is needed.

As we can tell, Mesquite truly shines on the lathe and turning green logs is the way to go. Since it dries with little change, go ahead and turn it and finish it green. It'll dry nice and slowly through the finish.

The sapwood of Mesquite, however, is a no-no as insects appear to LOVE it...even after finishing a product you could find bore holes and piles of yellow (the color of the sapwood) sawdust in place of your prized piece!

I took portions of the article and summarized some brief points here. After reading this article I was excited to get some Mesquite until I saw the prices for it! Yikes!

Chris

[Rob Overton]

Well, as a transplanted Oakie I understand backwards thinking. In Mangum we thought all you Eastern oklahoma folks were backward. Rob Overton, Imaokie, but I live in Houston, Texas

[Wolf Kiessling]

Well, as a transplanted Oakie I understand backwards thinking. In Mangum we thought all you Eastern oklahoma folks were backward. Rob Overton, Imaokie, but I live in Houston, Texas

Wonder if we crossed paths. I'm a transplanted Texan, used to live in Houston (then Corpus Christi for five years)

Wolf