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Thread: Osage Orange?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Corning, IA
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    176

    Osage Orange?

    I have two small pieces of osage orange(8" diameter-14" long). Has anyone worked with this wood and if so any suggestions, warnings etc. It is very heavy and appears to be very dense.

    Bob

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
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    4,680
    Lasts forever as fence posts!

  3. #3
    I have used it in turning some wine stoppers and candlestick holders. Finishes really nice

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
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    Wichita, Kansas
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    1,795
    About 20 years ago, I had to take a small tree down next to the corner of the house after it had been killed by a lightning strike. I swear I saw the chainsaw throwing sparks - and there was no metal imbedded in the wood.
    Tom Veatch
    Wichita, KS
    USA

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Central Vermont
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    1,081
    It makes for good chisel/gauge handles as it is extremely hard and can cost next to nothing compared to exotics.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,685
    My shop mallet has an Osage Orange head...which should speak to its durability...

    Osage orange is a nice wood to work with. The hard yellow color of the freshly cut material is very striking, but it will "brown out' with exposure to UV and via oxidation. It will polish up very nicely, however...when turning it, I sometime put no finish outside of a little wax once it's been sanded up through 800 or higher. It just gleams at that point with no varnish.
    --

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

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Veatch View Post
    About 20 years ago, I had to take a small tree down next to the corner of the house after it had been killed by a lightning strike. I swear I saw the chainsaw throwing sparks - and there was no metal imbedded in the wood.
    Yep, I have seen those sparks when I cut some up for firewood.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    East Central Illinois
    Posts
    532

    Osage Orange

    I have used osage orange to make jig runners for my table saw cutoff sled and they work extremely well. I have also turned handles for a large drawknife. I believe it is the densest wood on the North American continent. I also burn it in my shop wood stove and the only thing that burns hotter is coal. I too have seen sparks when using my chainsaw. It will quickly dull a chain and I keep extra chains handy when I am out cutting wood.

  9. #9
    The stuff is a delight to turn. I enjoyed working with it so much I did a little research.

    Turns out it's the most rot resistant North American timber. The name comes from the Osage Indians in Missouri, who were talked about in the book Little House on the Prairie.

    It has been credited with helping develop the west, as it was used as a sort of natural barbed wire to fence in pastures. Ironically, once barbed wire was invented, it was used as the posts to string the wire.

    Today it is highly prized by makers of bows (like for bows and arrows).

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,685
    Interesting tidbit since Jack mentioned it's geographic origin. Nearly all of the OO in the east is the result of Lewis and Clark bringing it back as part of the science mission that Jefferson requested of them on their journeys. I've been told that a bit of it here in the area that I live was propagated from four trees planted in Philadelphia as a result of that mission. Whether or not that's exactly true or not, I don't know, but even so, there are hedgerows of the stuff along many of the country roads. (another name for osage orange is hedge...and bois dé arc...as it was popular to use for hunting bows)
    --

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

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Tyler, Texas
    Posts
    356
    Isnt Osage Orange also known as Bois'D'arc? (sp?)

    edit: Shoot. Jim just answered my question....I guess we were posting at the same time. Thanks Jim
    Last edited by Randy Denby; 01-31-2008 at 9:27 AM.
    Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Tyler, Texas
    Posts
    2,041
    What everyone else said.

    Around here it is called Bodark...the East Texas mutilation of the French Bois d' Arc, which as already stated was because the Osage Indians used it to make their bows. I never heard it called Osage Orange until I started woodworking and frequenting forums.

    It grows as a very gnarly, bushy tree and the new shoots have up to 2" long thorns. Long boards are a rarity, similar to Mesquite. It has often been planted as a hedge-row to contain livestock and is nearly impenetrable when used as such. Those thorns are really dangerous!

    It also sprouts and grows along fence rows due to the birds dropping seeds when performing their daily constitutional. I've got a couple growing on my back property line.

    The name Osage Orange comes from the large grapefruit-sized fruit that it produces. We call them "horse apples" around here. They are light green with a bumpy texture and are poisonous to humans, although I've seen cows eat them. When cut, the fruit oozes a white, sticky sap. Cut into slices and placed around a patio, the fruit will help keep away flies and bugs. I guess it's repulsive to them for some reason although it has little smell to people.

    Bodark is great for fence posts and it is not unusual for a post to last 20 years or more. Fence staples do tend to fall out, though, as the wood dries and the grain separates on the sap wood.

    Like Jim said, the heart wood is bright yellow when cut with white sap wood. It will eventually turn a golden brown color from oxidation and UV exposure.

    I, too, have seen sparks fly from an axe when cutting Bodark. Whether it was from the extremely hard wood, silica or a piece of the blade edge breaking off, I don't know but it is not unusual.
    Cody


    Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Byron, IL
    Posts
    609
    Here's a router bowl I made with some layered into it. I found it easy enough to work with and the color adds some interest.


  14. #14
    I bought four dining room chairs that are made out of Osage Orange. I did not build them but can attest to the wood's nice appearance and durability.

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