Reply To: Native Woods in Texas
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Kelly, Texas has a goodly range of woods including some unusual species. Depending on the work type, some of these woods are quite diversely different and must be used with slight caution. You have many of the more common species growing as native trees too. Red oak grows throughout east Texas and so too many pines. Naturally you have walnut and such but then there are woods not rare but not so common perhaps to other states such as Mesquite, Ashe Juniper, Pecan, Texas Cedar Elm. These woods are all uniquely different and fun to work with because they are so unpredictable. You probably gathered if you read any of my posts of my love for mesquite. When I designed the pieces for the White House five years ago I picked Mesquite. Seeing them in the Cabinet Room after completion and installation when we delivered them made me realise that my choice was perfect. of the 350 pieces in the Permanent Collection, my designs were the only ones made of mesquite.
One classic and out of print book was published by Texas A&M University called Early Texas Furniture. The book contains just about all of the Early Texas pieces made as Texas designs and gives some guidance to size. I wanted to do a follow up book and give details of joinery and how they were and could be made, but time ran out.