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Thread: Osage Orange lumber

  1. #1

    Osage Orange lumber

    I'm looking at buying some 150bf of Osage Orange.How much per bf do you suggest? Thanks, Terry

  2. #2
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    I think you're asking what it's going to cost you and that's pretty variable, based on supply and size of the lumber. Osage orange isn't all that common "on the racks" because it's generally pretty gnarly and hard to harvest in quantity. Any that I've worked with has been, um...harvested from along the roads. I've only used it for turning and haven't seen it at any local suppliers. If you do find it commercially...it's not going to be inexpensive.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
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    Depends on the grade of stock and thickness you want. Osage can be a bear to work with. What are you doing with 150BF?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Terry Starch View Post
    I'm looking at buying some 150bf of Osage Orange.How much per bf do you suggest? Thanks, Terry
    I also use it a lot for woodturning but have never seen it for sale. I have also never used it for flat woodworking except as push sticks for my bandsaw.

    Sorry, I don't know the value since all I've ever had was free. I generally saw it myself when I get logs. (There is a lot of osage in certain areas.) Coincidentally, I stacked 5 osage orange logs next to my sawmill just today! (Besides turning blanks I like it for garden stakes and fence stretchers - it simply won't rot.)

    The Wood Database indicates "Pricing/Availability: Having typically small, crooked, and knotty trunks, Osage Orange isn’t usually harvested for lumber, but can occasionally be found for sale in either board or small turning block form. Due to its domesticity and adequate supply, the price should be moderate, though likely to be higher than most other native lumbers on account of its “specialty” status."

    You might see what people are selling it for. I googled "osage orange for sale" and got several hits (didn't check any). You might search by one of it's other names, such as bodarc. (Common names: Osage Orange, Bodark, Bois d'Arc, Horse Apple Hedge.)

    Curious, what is the application? Have you worked it before? If you haven't and want it for the color, sorry to say it doesn't last - yellow/orange when freshly cut, changes to a brown fairly quickly regardless of the finish I used.

    JKJ

  5. #5
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    I have a friend who sells #2 for 4$ per bf and 12$ for select.
    Only one life will soon be past
    Only whats done for Christ will last

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Many years ago I bought some from a fellow 'Creeker here on the board. I don't remember the exact cost per bd/ft. but it wasn't cheap, especially with the shipping cost. All of mine is clear straight, q-sawn, and has this beautiful chatoyance to it.
    Price is going to be indicative of quality of the wood, width and thickness, manner in which it was sawn, availability, etc. No way to predict via the internet, unless you're buying from a provider that ships.

    It's beautiful wood when first worked. It has a lemon yellow color that is really different. It ages to a russet brown, and it is hard and heavy.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  7. #7
    its native around here but I rarely see if at my local mills. I've purchased some behind but it's usually 4-6' lengths.
    My neighborhood is surrounded by Osage. They don't grow up long and straight
    I've picked up some on my own and milled it down. Great wood. Hard as a rock. I've been using rheum in cutting boards.

  8. #8
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    It's being bulldozed away fast in my local.

    Thankfully a friend had lots of friends with farmland, so I can pretty much get as much as my wife will let me.

  9. #9
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    Do you mean something like this? Kiln dried. 8' 2". Paid $20 for it.
    I'll tell you there's a lot of advantages to finding a local mom and pop sawmill.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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    LL. Johnson, Charlotte Mi.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Terry Starch View Post
    I'm looking at buying some 150bf of Osage Orange.How much per bf do you suggest? Thanks, Terry
    Oh Terry, I meant to ask and forgot - have your migraine headaches lessened any? I caught an earlier post where you mentioned the headaches.

    I read research a few years ago that showed how sensory deprivation (dark, quiet place) can actually make migraines worse since the brain has nothing much else to concentrate on. After that I found a radio or something on (not too loud) helps. Fortunately my headaches have lessened in frequency and over time. How are you getting along?

    JKJ

  12. #12
    That is a lot of Osage Orange. The tree that yields that wood is a relatively short, very gnarly, brushy tree that typically is about 6-10" in diameter at the base and about 6-8 feet of main trunk height, so 125 board feet would require a lot of those trees. They grow native around my locale and are mainly cut down and used for fenceposts as they are pretty rot-resistant. They were also used to make archery equipment as the local vernacular ("bodark," a corruption of the French "bois d'arc" or "wood of the bow") demonstrates.

  13. #13
    It was also used to GROW fences. Small ones were planted in lines and each looped around the next. US government sold an instructional booklet for years. We have a couple around here but I confess I have not seen them.

  14. #14
    4/4 Osage Orange runs $17.60 per board foot from a dealer here in NC. I love turning osage orange, never worked it as lumber.

    https://www.westpennhardwoods.com/ca...7-9fa2bf306450

    Red
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  15. #15
    I sawed some for a friend. Let me tell you it was nasty to cut. He found a few big pieces and we made 4x10's for a cabin he was building. None of it was what I would call 1st grade. But it sawed really hard, as it had dry places in the log, even though he had just cut it a few days before. I would be sawing along, going great, and hit a hard place, and the saw would hardly cut.

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