Mesquite?

[G L Drew]

A friend just gave me a few pieces of mesquite to try out for knife handles. Anyone had experience with this wood and how to finished it? It seems very hard but maybe a little porous for a knife handle. There is not a lot of character in the pieces I got but I would think there should be some curls and burls available in this stuff.

 

[Danbo]

Mesquite burl is some VERY nice stuff, and makes an excellent handle.

 

[silver_pilate]

Mesquite is a great handle wood. It is very very hard and quite dense. Doesn't really need any stabilization. I work it like I do ironwood. A little more character and chatoyance starts to come out of a really plain looking piece when you've sanded it up nicely and put some danish oil on it.

It can be found in burls, but they're tougher to find for sale. The stuff is as plentiful as dirt around surround this area, but it's generally cleared and burned to make make room for pasture or seed land, and the ranchers aren't looking at it like we would. If you can some good burl, it's easily as beautiful as any wood out there.

Here's a few piece made from really nice mesquite burl that I found out in the wonderful web:

--nathan

 

[Darrin Sanders]

Like Nathan said, treat it like Ironwood. Sand it, buff it, and coat with Danish oil. It's almost as tough and durable as Osage but a lot nicer. There are a few places that sale burl blocks and scales. I'm pretty sure Jantz has it. I don't know if its correct but I read somewhere that Mesquite is the most stable of all woods. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Darrin

 

[james terrio]

I've never used it, but I've heard nothing but good things about mesquite. Works good in the BBQ grill too

 

[Phil Dwyer]

The Hawaiian version is called Kiawe. Favored grilling and imu (pit BQ) fuel. Thorny tree. Heavy and dense wood tough as nails. Hard to find with good figure though. Has many desirable qualities for handles of working tools. I've not experienced the porous impression you mentioned. I've used various finishes on it, all seem to do well.