P. nigra<\/em> is distributed throughout the Gran Chaco region of South America, a region located in northern Argentina, extreme southern Bolivia, and about the northern 2\/3 of Paraguay.<\/p>\n For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will hereafter refer to P. nigra<\/em> as Black Mesquite.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite heartwood tends to be a medium to chocolate brown, somewhat reminiscent of Black Walnut. As is often the case with highly colored tropical woods, the color tends to darken with age. The sapwood of Black Mesquite is a yellow\/tan color.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite Interior<\/p><\/div>\n Black Mesquite has a medium to coarse texture and open pores, with a slight natural luster. Clear portions of the trunk tend to have straight or wavy grain though knots, defects, and other irregularities are common.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite is considered very durable in terms of decay resistance.<\/p>\n As is so often the case when working with woods, the quality of the piece in question will largely dictate the outcome. Black Mesquite that is clear and free from defects is easy to work with hand and machine tools, but irregular grain or knots can be challenging.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite Side View<\/p><\/div>\n Black Mesquite is known to glue, turn, and finish well.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite is reported to have no distinctive odor when being worked.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite only tends to be available in small sizes or as large irregular slabs. Larger boards free from defects are uncommon. Prices for Black Mesquite are in the mid-range for an imported tropical hardwood.<\/p>\n In this blog, I almost always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence. These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods<\/a>, Bell Forest Products<\/a>, NCWood<\/a>, WoodTurningz<\/a>, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods<\/a>, Griffin Exotic Wood<\/a>, Exotic Woods USA<\/a>, Got Wood?<\/a>, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U<\/a>. Note: ALWAYS green turn wet blanks from NCWood as their wax will not hold for extended drying periods.<\/p>\n Only Exotic Woods USA is currently offering Black Mesquite. The vendor is offering a range of sizes from a pen blank selling for $1.85 to a reasonable bowl blank of 8” x 8” x 3” for $35.70. There are several spindle and bowl blank sizes in the middle of that range of both size and price.<\/p>\n Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Black Mesquite, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings. I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.<\/p>\n A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer. I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand. It happens to me all the time!<\/p>\n Black Mesquite finds a variety of uses which includes but is probably not limited to: flooring, turned objects, boat building, and furniture.<\/p>\n Black Mesquite is not listed as being endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II<\/a> but the the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)<\/a> notes that it is a highly exploited wood that they note as being “data deficient” to determine a conservation status. Black Mesquite is not on the Red List of Threatened Species.<\/p>\n To the best of my knowledge, there are no special restrictions placed on Black Mesquite by the United States government.<\/p>\n I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby. I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon. In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors. I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.<\/p>\n However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested. The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood. That is inherently an individual decision.<\/p>\n I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations. This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store. Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.<\/p>\n It is important to note that aside from the usual hazards posed by wood dust, woods in the Prosopis<\/em> genus, such as Honey Mesquite, have been reported to cause skin irritation. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Honey Mesquite.<\/p>\n It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.<\/p>\n Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.<\/p>\n Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>. Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.<\/a><\/p>\n Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Black Mesquite.<\/p>\n This was my second time working with a Mesquite wood, the first being Honey Mesquite. When I bought it, it was simply labelled “Mesquite” with no further identification. I have chosen to call it Black Mesquite but it could in fact be one of several other Prosopis<\/em> species as mentioned in the previous article.<\/p>\n The finished piece is ~ 6” x 2”.<\/p>\n I knew that Black Mesquite was a very hard wood so I was surprised by the ease with which it cut. The wood cut cleanly, not as clean as Honey Mesquite but still quite clean and required only a little touch up sanding on the cross grain areas. This blank also had a knot and a void so that proved a bit more challenging than a clean blank would have been.<\/p>\n The Black Mesquite took a finish easily with no streaks or splotches.<\/p>\n Whatever this species actually is, I would be delighted to work with it again and I highly recommend the darker colored Mesquites to any wood turner.<\/p>\n All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool<\/a> system on my Robust American Beauty<\/a> lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck,<\/a> while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws<\/a>. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks<\/a>. Final finish is Shellawax<\/a>.<\/p>\n As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I knew that Black Mesquite was a very hard wood so I was surprised by the ease with which it cut. The wood cut cleanly, not as clean as Honey Mesquite but still quite clean and required only a little touch up sanding on the cross grain areas. This blank also had a knot and a void so that proved a bit more challenging than a clean blank would have been. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[154,168,171,181,188,270,200,217,226,230,239,240,241,247],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
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