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Mesquite Bowl Blank M-1141 3.7" x 8.5" x 10" 8.6 lbs. This is a beautiful and elongated half-log bowl blank of Texas Honey Mesquite. The overall color is the deep reddish brown of Mesquite heartwood surrounded by a thin band of yellow sapwood, with a complete and well-attached dark brown bark on the backside. This blank is longer than it is wide. You have a lot of options with this blank -- it would make a beautiful winged bowl for example, or perhaps an emergent bowl. With the bark on the backside, you have the option of turning a conventional bowl or a "barky" natural-edge bowl. However, if you want a full bark edge on the "natural" rim, you will need to secure the bark with CA glue before and possibly during turning. This is a classic half-log blank, split through the center of the log. It does contain some pith in it and has a few cracks developing, despite being well-sealed. Mesquite is fairly dimensionally stable, so the cracks tend not to develop much compared to other woods. For any that are present, I recommend reinforcing them with CA glue prior to turning. 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 25% MC in May 2022. If you need a current moisture content, please message us and we'll check its status for you. 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. |