[Scrat]

Decided I'm gonna try my hand at making some nattys. I cut 6 forks over the last few days. All mesquite. I'm doing some experimenting with the curing process. I'm gonna do some in the garage some in the house and a few in the car and weight them all daily to see how they dry.

My plan was to leave the bark on all of them. And let them dry slowly. Not gonna seal the ends and just see what happens.

I wasn't very careful when cutting one today and I skinned part of the fork. I'm debating whether to just peel all the bark off this one while it's green so at least it dries out evenly. Any thoughts? Anyone know if mesquite is prone to cracking? It's a nice symmetrical fork so I'd like to keep it intact if I can.

My plan is to make a chart showing the drying rates for the different locations along with the temperatures and I'll post that here some time in the future.

 

[Ibojoe]

Looks like you have cut them long enough so if any crackin occurs it can be cut away. The extreme heat of the car will crack em the worst I would think. Good luck .

 

[Scrat]

Looks like you have cut them long enough so if any crackin occurs it can be cut away. The extreme heat of the car will crack em the worst I would think. Good luck .

I'm sure your right. I'm gonna put the ugliest two in the car in case it ruins them haha

I stripped the bark off the one and stuck it in a plastic bag in the closet. I figure that might help slow down the drying a little.

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[Covert5]

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing them finished. I find the experimentation part of this sport/hobby very intriguing! Enjoy your journey!

 

[Tag]

Looking forward to seeing your finished natty

 

[bingo]

Interested to see how they turn out ????

 

[MOJAVE MO]

I've got a couple of forks that might be a year old that I haven't cut into yet. In the last 9 months I have followed the Forum Pro tips on microwave drying. During that time I decided to store some tree forks in a clear plastic bin with a strong seal in the garage. After about a week or so I noticed condensation forming on this inside. I opened it up, took out the forks and towel dried the bin. I have done this 3 or 4 times now and during the last few months no condensation buildup. Also, just for kicks every time a package arrives from the outside world I take the dessicate pouch and toss it in the bin. I imagine that when I am ready then 2 @ 15sec microwave blasts and they'll be good to go.

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[dogcatchersito]

I have stopped using the microwave trick. I leave the bark on, cut extremely long and throw all of them in the garage. I also wait almost a year before I touch then and rotate it the oldest ones.

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[Scrat]

mo, that desiccate idea is great. I'll remember that one. Although, I often feel like I'm living inside a desiccate package in NM. I'll have to read some of the microwave threads to get up to speed, but I like your idea of air drying a while and then microwaving a little. Seems like a good compromise.

dogcatchersito, I think eventually I'd like to do what you do. I bet you've got a good amount of forks in rotation to make that happen. I'm gonna let at least one of these go a year before I touch it.
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[flipgun]

There was once someone that boiled their forks to dry them out. Sounds counter-intuitive I know, but I have tried it on a fork or two and the result was quite promising. you might sacrifice the ugliest on a trial.