» For more information   Tumacácori Mesquite Sawmill's prices range from $9 to $40 for crosses to $12 to $100 for cutting boards. Bigger pieces, such as a dining table, can run $8,000 to $18,000.   Custom orders take four to six weeks, and winter is the busiest time.   The furniture and craft gallery and the milling operation are open seven days a week. The business is 45 miles south of Tucson. Take Interstate 19 to the Tubac Exit 34. It's two miles south, at 2007 E. Frontage Road, Tumacácori.   Call 398-9356 or go to www.mesquite design.com for information.

Say "mesquite" and most people think barbecue. But the wood used to smoke meats - and that we take for granted as a natural part of our Southern Arizona landscape - is also prized for its richness of color and texture when used in furniture. Mesquite is "very hard, it's very dense, it's among the world's most stable woods, and it's inherently imperfect," said Art Flores of the Tumacácori Mesquite Sawmill. Its knots and gnarls only add to the wood's character and beauty. "The older the growth, generally speaking, the more character the grain will have, which is a very desired feature for architects, woodworkers and cabinetmakers," said Flores, 47, a former maquiladora supervisor with a master's degree in computer science. "The final product is absolutely stunning." Tumacácori Mesquite Sawmill imports mesquite from Mexico, which has a lot of old-growth timber that can be cut into large slabs. It's not easy to get, because the wood's a protected resource there, Flores said. Clad in a cowboy hat, Levi's and boots, Flores oversees the orderly 3-acre facility a few miles south of Tubac and has eight employees. "I walked away from 20 years of white-collar, corporate America to do something creative and have never been happier," said Flores, a Catalina High School graduate. "I live here, and I love the commute to work. I just walk out the front door. It's a beautiful area, and it's quiet." Flores bought the sawmill and its attached gallery three years ago and has used his business expertise to seize hold of the growing market for his products. He estimated that sales have mushroomed 300 percent in the past two years. His business has given him a new appreciation for the beauty of mesquite. "I'd always seen mesquite as being scraggly and not really a lot of lumber value associated with them," he said. "But what we're getting out of Mexico is older growth, and along with that, you'll get some pretty substantial sizes. I've got some slabs here that are 12 to 13 feet long and up to 28 inches wide, which is almost unheard of for mesquite." Flores and his crew handcraft doors, dining tables, bar counters and fireplace mantels, among other pieces. His customers tend to be pretty hands-on. "We've got a lot of people who come in here who actually participate in the design. They may have a requirement for a dining table, for example, and they're out in the (lumber) yard helping to pick out the wood," he said. Along with furniture, Tumacácori Mesquite Sawmill also creates smaller pieces from leftover wood. "We'll turn that into cutting boards and crosses," he said. "In a sense, we're consuming just about every bit of the mesquite, as opposed to throwing any pieces away. The only thing we don't use is the dust." ● Kathleen Vandervoet is a freelance writer based in Tubac.

 

» For more information Tumacácori Mesquite Sawmill's prices range from $9 to $40 for crosses to $12 to $100 for cutting boards. Bigger pieces, such as a dining table, can run $8,000 to $18,000. Custom orders take four to six weeks, and winter is the busiest time. The furniture and craft gallery and the milling operation are open seven days a week. The business is 45 miles south of Tucson. Take Interstate 19 to the Tubac Exit 34. It's two miles south, at 2007 E. Frontage Road, Tumacácori. Call 398-9356 or go to www.mesquite design.com for information.