[TheForge] Charcoal

[Washington, Aubrey O.]

Robert,

That is very nice work on the mesquite rocking chairs!  I grew up in south Texas, and the best climbing tree around was a large mesquite in my back yard.  Dealing with the thorns was just part of the fun.  We made blow darts from the thorns.  It's a wonder any of us got through childhood with both eyes intact.

Aubrey

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From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of robert hensarling [rhrocker at hilconet.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 4:15 AM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Charcoal

Watch out now!  Lets not be badmouthing my glorious Mesquite :o)   I have a
Mesquite log in my shop on display that's 4 feet in diameter at the base,
and 15 feet long, and it's straight.  Unfortunately, in my 27 years of being
a "Mesquitess", this is the only tree that large I've ever seen.  The
Mesquite that holds the record as the largest, is huge as far as the base
diameter goes, but it only goes up about 6 feet, then branches all over the
place.  The Texas Forest Service did a core sample on my mesquite, and
determined that it was over 500 years old.  Don't know when the cattle
drives out of Mexico started, but I thought that was in the late 1700's.  So
where did this tree come from?  Who knows.  Maybe it was the chicken!  Or
the egg!  Or both!
The only thing I did wrong with this mesquite of mine is that I didn't get
live samples of it for cloning.  A & M at one time was able to clone trees,
including mesquites.  They told me that I could have a whole ranch full of
this exact same tree!  One slight problem, of course, is that at the rate
I'm going, I may not be here in 500 years, to take advantage of the things.
Robert Hensarling
rhrocker at hilconet.com
www.mesquiterocker.com
Uvalde, Texas
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Husvar" <jhusvar at sbcglobal.net>
To: "theforge ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Charcoal


> Y'all ain't been close by Abilene, TX, Have ya? Mesquite is a weed down
> there comparable to kudzu in other southern areas. Came up on cow feet
from
> Mexico and loved the place so much it's trying to take over the whole
> Republic of Texas! Well, it and Prickly Pear cactus.
>
> If mesquite charcoal gets more popular, y'all could stop an ecological
> disaster. :)
>
>
> On 9/17/08 1:06 PM, "Andy Gladish" <gladish at cablerocket.com> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:56:24 -0700, Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com>
wrote:
> >
> >> Andy, charcoal is actually quite a sustainable resource, unlike coal
> >> which will be gone when it's gone.
> >
> > Yes, you're right- I was responding to his "now talk me out of this"
> > comment by saying that there's a downside to anything. Most of the
> > charcoal in stores comes from areas of Mexico and the American southwest
> > that are more or less strip mined for wood.
> > Sure it comes back, theoretically, but the habitat destruction is
> > significant, even though most of us don't have to look at it. If you
make
> > your own, a charcoal burner almost by definition produces a large amount
> > of particulate matter and wastes much of the potential heat energy of
the
> > wood.
> >
> > There are ways around this, and I personally think that charcoal
produced
> > with all this in mind is the best possible forge fuel.
> > We either pay the price by making it ourselves in a responsible way, or
we
> > all pay in the long run because we treated our planet unkindly.
> > Now to walk my talk and make charcoal in the winter, using the burnoff
to
> > heat my shop!
> >
> > Andy G.
> > _______________________________________________
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