Picked up some Ironwood & Mesquite burls, root, log, etc.. Now what!?

[PIndelicato]

Since I live in Arizona, for the longest time I've wanted to get my hands on some 'raw' Ironwood to mess around with. I found a guy selling some this past weekend, and grabbed a few things from him. Unfortunately I only know enough to be dangerous at this point, so I'm wondering if what I got is good, usable stuff or if this will be (expensive) kindling for my next campfire. I'm also not quite sure of the best way to approach cutting it up, so I'd appreciate any tips on that.

This is a pretty wild looking Ironwood burl(?). It's pretty cracked...is that normal, and will it look better on the inside once I start cutting into it? Is this burl large enough to get some nice blocks out of?

I also got what the guy said was a smaller Mesquite burl. I don't know mesquite well enough to ID it...is that indeed what this is? Also, same questions as above for this piece:

 

[PIndelicato]

Lastly, I also got a piece of Ironwood root and a log section. Are these worth messing with? What's the best way to cut a straight log section for figure?

 

[james terrio]

I have no idea, but I picked up a nice chunk of ironwood at the Badger show this spring so I'm subscribing to this thread

 

[Phil Tham]

Naw, it's all kindling...send it to me and I'll dipose of it for ya. Seriously though, that looks like a really nice score...especially the ironwood burl. That other two definitely look like mesquite to me. If it were me, I'd cut that big burl into manageable pieces to start with and then use a bandsaw to cut the scales or blocks. You won't know what you've got 'til you cut into it. Sure looks knarly. I think you'll get the best figure by cutting the straight logs on a bias if you have enough diameter. But, you will have more waste that way. Good luck and be careful...the closest I've come to losing a finger was cutting up a log for knife handles.

 

[ctaylorjr]

Any idea how dry it is? If it's not really dry I'd wax open ends and let it sit for a while until I could get a piece cut and test for moisture content.

More than likely the cracks you are seeing on the ends is just checking from drying out and "shouldn't" go too deep.

I agree with TxWoodChip, that definitely looks like mesquite and it shows some promise as well. I too would cut on a bias and see what I came up with.

Remember, cutting round things without a flat have a tendency to roll on you and go where they want, be careful!

Looking forward to some pics!

Charlie

 

[Burl Source]

Ironwood tends to look better cut flat sawn (cuts made parallel to growth rings), than it does quartersawn (cuts made at a right angle to growth rings).
The root section will be easiest to use to get your feet wet.
I would suggest start with one piece and cut off a manageable size chunk a little longer than a knife block.
Look at both ends of the piece. With root there will usually be a crack going down the center.
Try to make your 1st cut to follow the crack so it doesn't end up in the center of a block.
After that trim away a bit at a time till you get to solid wood. Then trim up that piece into a block.
Be sure to use sharp blades on your bandsaw.

The top piece looks similar to a piece I cut a while back.
It is not burl but can have interesting figure and grain patterns.
I will see if I can find what I cut and post a few photos.

Cutting ironwood can be a PIA.
It eats blades and the dust is nasty stuff so wear a mask when cutting.

 

[PIndelicato]

Thanks for the info guys, and confirmation on the mesquite piece. I've never worked with it before, so had no idea what it smelled like or really looked like for that matter. I was told by the seller that all of the pieces are completely dry, but of course I don't know that for a fact and I sure don't have a way of measuring moisture content.

I wasn't 100% sure that ironwood piece was a burl; it's a bit disappointing to hear it isn't, but I'm not totally surprised. What the heck is it then...it's definitely bizarre looking, whatever it is!?!

I had planned on starting with the root piece, so I'll give that a shot and see how it goes. Is the root material figured and hard/stable like other ironwood, and useable for knife handle material? Not sure I've ever seen it discussed or used before...

 

[Tai Goo]

Paul, you have to pre cut it with a hand saw so you have a flat spot, then go to a ban saw. It looks like it's been sitting in the desert dead for a long time which is how most of it is. You just have to cut around the cracks. It's a lot of work. Even if you harvest ironwood green the heartwood is full of cracks.

That one piece with the more reddish color looks like it might be desert acacia not mesquite. The acacia is better wood and my favorite one that grows around here. I like it better than ironwood or mesquite. You can tell the acacia by the red color. It's hard to tell for sure by the pix.

 

[Britt_Askew]

I cut some desert ironwood this week and the cracks were all through the wood. A LOT of waste. Maybe I can use the bad stuff to build something, call it "rustic" and make it a good thing

 

[PIndelicato]

Thanks guys, sounds like lots of waste is a recurring theme here, so I guess that's just a fact of life with Ironwood.

Tai, I'm not the best with colors, but I would say the mesquite/acacia burl is sort of brown-pinkish in color. In the top photo, that end was belt sanded lightly, and the other end in the 2nd photo was as it had been sitting for however long it had been. The Ironwood root piece looks more red/orange to me, and I'm sure it is Ironwood from the unmistakable smell when we sanded the end.

Spalted, from what I understand some of the woodturning folks like the cracks and natural defects, so you might be able to sell some of it to that market.

 

[PIndelicato]

Here's one more shot of the mesquite/acacia mystery piece. It looks to actually have a bit of that pinkish color in the bark as well, if that helps to ID what it is.

 

[RyanW]

Talk to Mike Davis tonight on Chat, he has turned wood processing into a job... I have a similar piece of Ironwood that I am slowly chipping away at. Think knife blocks with the grain. I shoot for 2" x 6" x 1.25" blocks. Good Luck

 

[CM Forge]

Mesquite is a beautiful wood and fairly easy to work. Make sure and wear your respirator though when working it, it has some type of irritant in it that affects just about everybody who works with it. I use quite a bit of mesquite and started vacuum treating mine with acryloid b72.

 

[PeterB]

Ironwood has the worst smell of any wood or even mammouth ivory. It is SO foul, it MUST be toxic. I would be very careful with it. Definitely use a respirator.

I presume you are talking about screwbean mesquite. It is a GREAT gunstock wood with beauty and twice the stability of walnut. But it is very slow growing, mainly cut out except in National Monument, etc areas. There is also flatbean mesquite which is mainly more Eastern...like Texas. It is faster growing and can be quite large. It is deep chocolate looking when first cut and changes to very light colored when dry. Unlike screwbean mesquite which has nice color definition, flatbean mesquite hides its pattern (feather, etc) when dry. Very dull and uninteresting. However, when I got the widemouth propane torch out, many colors simply blossomed.

Good luck.

 

[PIndelicato]

Yes, I always wear a respirator when working with Ironwood (or anything else, for that matter.) As far as what kind of mesquite, I really have no idea. I'm not even sure it is mesquite, and it sounds like it could be acacia based upon what Tai said above, but the seller claimed it came from the Arizona desert. If anyone else has any input as to what it is, I'd appreciate it. Also on what the funky, burl/non-burl ironwood piece in the first pictures above in my first post is, and whether or not root makes for good handle material.


Thanks all!

 

[PIndelicato]

Started cutting some of the Ironwood this morning with interesting results. First off, a section of the root, which has some rich coloring and more interesting figure than I would have expected from a pretty straight piece:

Then I took off a 'nub' from the burl (not burl?) piece that was already a little loose, and started working on it. I don't know if I've done enough to really tell what's going on yet, but it seems interesting to me. First of all, it seems a bit charred like it might have seen a fire at some point. Could that have caused the strange appearance? It looks like it's a spiral/swirl of heartwood and sapwood.

This is one end...one tiny dot of heartwood in the center with some swirls mixed into the sapwood:

This is the other end of the same piece...looks like a twisted/corkscrew shape of heartwood in the center, again with swirls of heartwood in the sapwood:

I'd appreciate any feedback anyone can offer on any of this stuff!

 

[Tai Goo]

The acacia does grow in the AZ desert and often gets mistaken for mesquite and/or ironwood. There are several types that grow here and they are just as common as the mesquite and ironwood. They all look a little different but once you get an eye for that subtle reddish color it's easy to distinguish them from the other two. The acacia is really the rarest one to see used, because most of the trees are small and it's very hard to find good pieces. I'm lucky in that a good friend of mine has some big ones growing on his land and let me cut off a piece recently. I have it drying out in the shop, but it won't be ready for a year or so. The acacia is less porous than the mesquite, about like the ironwood, but just a bit less dense.

The creosote bush also has a type of "ironwood" (so dense it sinks in water), but it's almost impossible to find a solid piece large enough for a knife handle. It's also a beautiful wood that grows here that you don't see much of.

 

[Justin King]

Ironwood is always exciting to cut into and often a little disappointing with the rot and checking. It has become one of my favorite woods to see on a knife but one of my least favorite to use, because I get it for free from my dad, so can't justify paying $ for it, but have to then cut it up myself. I have a heart breaking pile of pieces with lovely figure and cracks everywhere.
The root sections do tend to be more orange and yellow in color but as you noted the smell gives it right away.