Mesquite recurve

[StevenT]

Lived in New Mexico half my younger life. Had no idea Mesquite could be used for much of anything other than BBQ. I'll be watching also. That is one pretty bow.

[carpholeo]

Ok to answer  the questions asked----- its very hard to find a good length of mesquite from a shoot or otherwise,
 Be prepared to cut hack and chainsaw your way into a dense mesquite thicket if you want a good shoot or stave. and you will get bloody. This bow is honey mesquite and from a stave. honey mesquite tends to be less knotty that screwbean mesquite, however screwbean mesquite makes a slightly faster bow than honey. I dont have any experience with velvet mesquite. I have only made maple board bows in the past which i found to be fairly easy with all the good info on this site. but mesquite has been a real challange to even get to the point where you call it a bow.

[Badger]

  Several years ago I spent a week in Az hunting for iron wood, I had no idea there were so many varieties of mesquite. I wasn't able to get a positive identification on anything to speak of.

[carpholeo]

Yeah i hear ya, i'm in the same area and i still dont know how to identify ironwood

[carpholeo]

Heres a screwbean mesquite pyramid bow im working on, knott city, and this was from the best stave i could find

[carpholeo]

Yikes!!!!  27" true draw length

looks like i have some fine tuning to do

[DavidV]

Nice bend! Tiller looks good here. That screwbean mesquite looks like the osage in my vice right now, knot city for sure.

[dane lund]

OK, after some research, here's what I've found.
The most common desert mesquite is velvet mesquite. It's what found locally in all the washes. Screw bean is found in the riparian areas.  Honey is found in elevations above 2500'.
That said, what I'm going to find here is the native velvet mesquite and and imported Chilean mesquite.  Any advise on which to seek out?

[carpholeo]

I thought this was interesting, screwbean ranks as one of the hardest woods out there, very colse to osage

Janka Hardness Scale


Wood Variety         Sorted by Hardness


Ipe (Lapacho)                    3680
African Blackwood            3500
Macassar Ebony                 3220
Brazilian Rosewood          3000
Bloodwood                        2900
Osage-Orange                    2500
Jatoba                               2350   
Screwbean Mesquite         2335
Persimmon                        2300
Santos Mahogany               2200
Dogwood                            2150
Ohia                                   2090
Purple Heart                     2090
Bubinga                             1980 (2000+?)
Jarrah                               1910, 2082
Hop Hornbeam                   1860
Purpleheart                      1860
Pecan                                1820
Shagbark Hickory               1820
Hornbeam                         1780
Morado                             1780
Ziracote                           1750
Apple                                1730
Paduak                             1725
Rengas                             1720
Almond                             1700
Black Locust                    1700
Ovankol                           1650
Wenge                             1630
Honey Locust                    1580
Zebrawood                      1575
Witch Hazel                      1530
Canarywood                     1520
Sapele                             1500
Orientalwood                    1480
Bastogne Walnut              1460
Madrone                           1460
Rosewood                        1450
Sugar Maple                      1450
Hard Maple                      1450
Cuban Mahogany             1430
Tanoak                             1400
Tamarind                          1400
Cypress                           1375
White Oak                       1360
African Mahogany           1350, 830
White Ash                       1320
Beech                              1300
Angelique                       1290
Myrtlewood                    1270
Yellow Birch                   1260
Red Oak                          1260
Vanautu Blackwood         1200
Larch                               1200
Bastogne Walnut             1000-1500
English Walnut                  1200
King Billy Pine                 1200?
Green Ash                         1200
Paulownia
Teak (true)                       1155
Pacific Yew                       1150
Cocobolo                         1136
Koa                                  1110
Cascara                             1040
Southern Magnolia             1020
Am. Black Walnut             1010
Claro Walnut                      950-1000
Black Cherry                      950
Imbuya                              950
Sourwood                           940
Eastern Red Cedar            900
Hackberry                          880
Longleaf Pine                     875
Rock Elm                            860
Slippery Elm                       860
Bigleaf Maple                     8

[soy]

Heres a screwbean mesquite pyramid bow im working on, knott city, and this was from the best stave i could find

WOW!!! That is a cool hunk o wood!!!