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Mesquite Block M-1123 2.8" x 2.8" x 13.8" 4 lbs. This is a pretty block of rough-sawn Texas Honey Mesquite. The block is almost entirely Mesquite heartwood, a deep reddish-brown with a warm glow. One face has sapwood along it and bark at one end, accounting for less than 5% of the block volume. Most of it will turn off when bringing the block to round. This is a GREEN to partially air-dried bowl blank, meaning that it still retains a lot of its original moisture from when it was a living tree. It has been well-sealed with Anchor Seal and is in the process of slowly drying. It was heat-treated to kill off any hungry critters that may have been burrowing inside. It was measured at 35 to 40% MC in April, 2022. If you need a current moisture content, please message us and we'll check its status for you. You'll see some tool lines on the surface of the block from milling. These will turn or sand right off. There are also some open cracks at the ends of the blank. These will need to be secured with CA glue prior to turning. Also a few open vugs and borer holes, which are characteristic of Mesquite. I've taken lots of photos of this piece; scroll down below the first 3 to see all of them. About the Tree This Texas-grown Honey Mesquite tree was harvested in El Campo, Texas in March of 2022. It was cut down by the city for reasons unknown to us, and we were happy to help save the tree from a burn pile. It is possible that this tree was damaged by the Valentine's Day Freeze that Texas suffered in February 2021, which is when our state lost a lot of beautiful trees in an unusually deep and long freeze. You can feel good about this American-grown hardwood being responsibly harvested and turned into beautiful art by YOU. The tree was in healthy growing condition, with a minimum of bug damage and a nice healthy girth to the trunk. There is some minor evidence of fire damage, perhaps from a campfire, near the base of the tree on one side. It may have been in a fairly protected area such as a city park, as the Mesquite is less twisted and gnarly than trees grown in open pastures. The grain looks generally long and straight and of excellent quality for green or dried turning. |