Bookcase - hard, heavy and oh so yellow

Man, is it yellow – and hard - and heavy. Over time the color will have mellowed, but I bet it will still be as hard. And heavy. :) I had no way to weigh it but my guess is that it’s something over a hundred pounds. The wood came from a tree that was east of Dallas. I’m southwest of Fort Worth and there is some Bois d’Arc here but for uniformity used only wood from the same tree.

I am mainly putting it on as an example of Bois d’ Arc...or Osage Orange…or Hedge Apple…or whatever you want to call it. One of these days I’ll post something that calls for some more intricate joinery…..if I ever do any. :o I had been wanting to actually make something from Bois d’Arc other than just putting in small pieces here and there in larger projects. We had some mainly bits and pieces of the tree as most of it went to make a bar top and I had the time so I decided to wear out some sandpaper and help dull some bits and blades.

The overall dimensions are 76” tall, 40 ½” wide top and 37 ½” wide and 11 1/8” deep carcase. The width was made to accommodate the shortest shelf I pieced together, which are dadoed a quarter inch into the sides. Shelves range from 11 ½” on the bottom to 9 ½” on top. Stiles are about 1 ¼” and the shelf rails are about 1 1/8”. I would have used wider stuff but went with what I could get that was left from this tree. In preparing the wood planing, sawing and routing are the same as anything else, although the router needs to be moved along as the wood can burn pretty badly. For sanding everything was dropped down a grit and was heavier duty. Rough sanding was 80 or 120 grit on a 4x24 belt sander, then to 120 on a 3x21 and then finally 120 on a ROS. Sanding was OK as long as the grit was pronounced but it wore down faster and when was at all worn didn’t do much. Finer than 120 mainly just burnished the wood. Pocket screws were used to put stiles on the sides, rails on the shelves and attach the top. The back is a little less than ½” thick and I counted 28 half lapped pieces which I cut to make it. I joined pieces halfway on shelf backs and attached them with 1 ¼” brads. For finishing a base coat of shellac was sprayed on followed by one coat of wipe-on varnish. As dense and close-grained as this stuff is that’s all that was necessary.

Yellow, ain’t it? You wouldn’t have it as a piece of furniture, would you? Tell the truth, I’m not crazy about it myself. Right now, anyway. But I’ve seen aged Bois d’Arc and after some time it turns to a really pretty golden brown. The room it’s in is not really bright so it doesn’t really stand out either. Now on to something a little less psychedelic.

Richard,

I think that Osage Orange color is pretty neat! I have some that I'm trying to figure out what to do with. Not many people have furniture made of the stuff...not that I've seen anyway. Your bookshelf is very nice and should strike up some conversation on it's good quality, let alone its color!

I bet It will look better with something in it. Right now the yellow really does hit you in the face, but with some books in it may look alright. Also as you said it probable won't remain the color it is now. Thank you for the post I have always thought about making something out of those domestic woods people rarely use. I like the wood. It is nice to see how much of an impact it can really have.

Richard, as in most of the country, osage orange is despised around here. It does, as you state, turn a very warm and nice brown - actually pretty quickly if exposed. This is some very nice work, and in a short time, I am sure it will mellow out nicely. Glad you were using your tools, and not mine;)

Second John K.'s thought on what was sharp probably isn't anymore. I like the color for a change and as Evan stated.. it will tone down when you add books. And then it will change tone as you mentioned with age...

So.. a likely candidate for a "yellow submarine" in it's raw state. :)

+1 on the hardness! I made a hammer handle for a small sledge from a fairly straight limb once and still have it. Don't ever burn it in the fireplace unless you like fireworks shows. :eek:

Eh gads - an entire bookshelf out of osage orange? I've never heard of someone actually using osage as anything other than turning stock or inlay. You've certainly something unique, and you're to be commended for putting up with the workability issues that using the species entails.

You can greatly accelerate the color change by exposing the bookcase to UV light - in this case, sunlight is probably the most practical source. Realize that window glass absorbs a great deal of the UV in sunlight, so the change will happen much faster if the bookcase is actually parked outside for a period.

Nice work - I'm seriously impressed!

Nice job, Richard. Another benefit to consider with that bookcase is that with you can probably read by the glow off of it at night. ;)

Nice looking bookcase, Richard.

I actually like working with Bois d'Arc. I wouldn't want a room full of furniture made from it but I think it looks great as an accent piece and as said, once it turns that golden brown color, it looks even better.

I have some 8/4 Bois d'Arc being kiln dried now that I plan on using to build another rocking chair...a commissioned one. When I showed the client pictures of some Bois d' Arc turnings I had done, he picked it for the rocker. He said it was the most beautiful wood he had ever seen.

Of course, he's an LSU fan so Gold and Purple are his favorite colors. Maybe I will accent the Bois d' Arc with some Purple Heart. :)

A few years ago my wife bought some golden/mustard paint for one wall in our house. Once we put it up our initial reaction was HOLY CRAP, MUSTARD! ......but after we put the furniture back in place the wall was 80% covered and it looked great. I'm sure the same will be true with your book case.....the yellow will be a highlight (as long as you don't fill it with mustard bottles or something :)).

Why not build a purple heart case as a twin? :D Seriously, I think it is nice and what's wrong with a little color here and there. Also, speaking of purple heart, from working with that wood I can imagine how hard your project was. Hat's off to you.

Yea, Osage orange is, um...bright when freshly cut. But it absolutely will brown out with some exposure to UV. You could speed that up if you want by putting the book case outside on some sunny days for awhile. Of course...it's heavy. LOL (My bench mallet head is made of the stuff for exactly that reason)