Osage Orange lumber

[Phillip Mitchell]

Osage orange sounds eerily familiar to Black Locust in its general character and demeanor. Generally poor quality trees (from a lumber grading perspective), rough and tough to saw, extremely rot resistant and commonly used for fence posts/firewood. I've sawn tons of black locust on a bandsaw mill and cuts cords and cords of locust firewood. It can be pretty mean stuff that is really tough to get a predictable yield from.

Apparently some premier hardwood dealers (in areas where is doesn't grow natively) charge $17.60 ?!!!? bd/ft or you could likely get it from a local sawmill for around $1 bd/ft if you look hard enough and talk to the right people. Though it will likely be green lumber for that price and from a sawyer.

OP hasn't circled back on this thread, but I wonder what he's using it for and what lengths he needs? Longer lengths (over 8') are going to be tougher to come by.

[John K Jordan]

Osage orange sounds eerily familiar to Black Locust in its general character and demeanor. Generally poor quality trees (from a lumber grading perspective), rough and tough to saw, extremely rot resistant and commonly used for fence posts/firewood. I've sawn tons of black locust on a bandsaw mill and cuts cords and cords of locust firewood. It can be pretty mean stuff that is really tough to get a predictable yield from...

And in appearance, apparently confused by some since the end grain can look similar, especially when the cut is not fresh. From the Wood Database: "One helpful characteristic that can help separate it from lookalikes such as Mulberry or Black Locust (besides being heavier) is that Osage Orange contains a water-soluble yellow dye, so putting shavings into water will turn the water yellow."

An quick way distinquish between Osage and Black Locust is to hit it with a 365 UV light - Locust will fluoresce brightly while Osage does not. This is a piece of Redheart and a piece of Honey Locust - black locust fluoresces the same way:
UV_3_redheart_locust.jpg

Most of the Osage is not too exciting at the sawmill but every once in a while you see a big one. A few years back I got a call about the demise of one of the largest reported Osage trees in TN, I'm guessing pushing 3' dbh. By the time I got there with my trailer the big stuff was gone but I still got some nice logs from further up in the tree, 12-28" in diameter. As I mentioned, I turn some but saw most of it for around the farm especially in the garden. And it makes wonderful firewood!

OP hasn't circled back on this thread, but I wonder what he's using it for and what lengths he needs? Longer lengths (over 8') are going to be tougher to come by.

I asked that question earlier - that would certainly help focus the discussion! If he is reading, he might check Woodfinder for Osage: http://woodfinder.com/ Also search the forestry forum - good discussion of osage there.

JKJ