Osage Orange

[Colin MacDiarmid]

Just bought a piece of Osage orange today 6"diameter x 2.5" thick cost me in your money $45.62.
Whats it like to turn and what is the best finish to put on it?
Look forward to your replies.

[Dennis Peacock]

Colin,

Osage Orange turns very nice. If it's very dry, it will be about as hard as concrete and will require frequent sharpening. If it's still kind of "wet" then it will be much easier to turn. Just don't leave the roughed out piece too thick so you won't have so much to turn away when you remount it for finish turning.

Finishing OO? It takes a nice shine just by sanding through the grits. Spend more time on the 80, 120, 180 grits to get the wood nice and clear/clean, then go to 220, 320, 400, 600, and finally 800. You may just be surprised that you won't require much of a finish on it. This stuff shines up like glass when sanded through the higher grits.

[Tom Keen]

It can be a challenge. It is very fiberous and hard. Ive been roughing out some large pieces (16") that are fairly dry and it wears me out. Takes me at least twice as long to rough out an OO bowl.

But, it cuts very clean and finishes beautifully. Very sharp tools are called for. Watch out for the end grain..when it tears it pulls out large strands..

I agree about the sanding. I sand up to 600, then give it a very very thin wipe of antique oil and buff out the next day. Very pretty! Everyone will love it.

And then there is the yellow dust...

Good luck,
Tom

[George Guadiane]

Just bought a piece of Osage orange today 6"diameter x 2.5" thick cost me in your money $45.62.
Whats it like to turn and what is the best finish to put on it?
Look forward to your replies.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I am guessing postage was quite high, as that seems like a large sum for the size, etc (I sell wood).
I JUST turned a 15 inch Osage Orange (burl) Natural Edge bowl blank (I will post pictures next week - I'm out of town)... It had been sitting for over 2 years. Sharp tools are VERY helpful, but the wood seems to sand (and finish) well for me. It does have an open grain, so if you want a "flawless" finish you will have to put something over the wood. Shellac works well and looks nice, but I also prefer high grit sanding with an oil and bee's wax finish for this wood.

[Colin MacDiarmid]

Hi thanks for the hints and tips I will post pictures when I've made a creation,
there was no postage on the wood i collected it from the wood store.
Thanks again for the info