Dave about 7 years ago I was trying out some mesquite, it did have tendency to chrysal, I was tring to make self bows from it and the backs kept giving away, I never completed a bow with out failure due to belly failure or back failure, I would like to try it again as at that time my skills were marginal at best. I did try some desert iron wood scraps, a relative of mesquite, just fashioned out some rough bending bows from crooked twisted pieces, The iron wood I think could make excellent bows, back was very strong and belly would take a lot of compression. Steve