need more osage orange....

[kaintuck]

I really like the osage orange I got from a member here...I made some, and made some mistakes~ sorry, I lost my contact info~
could you please PM me, i would like to get more....here are my 1st experiments in screw tips...

 

[BillinOregon]

Pretty handsome work there pardner. Turning on a machine lathe? Pole/treadle lathe?

 

[kaintuck]

Ah yes......machine lathe! I can make dust with the best of them......I still need to learn HOW to get those gentle curves in the tips though.
So much to learn, so little time..... :youcrazy:

 

[BillinOregon]

Kaintuck, if I were in osage country I'd get you some chunks, but it doesn't grow within 1,000 miles o' here. Lots of western juniper, but i couldn't tell you if it turns worth a hoot.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I still need to learn HOW to get those gentle curves in the tips though.

Just use your skew and sorta roll it around where you want the curve.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Lots of western juniper, but i couldn't tell you if it turns worth a hoot.

Western Juniper is just another name for Eastern Red Cedar or Juniper.
Turning is a love/hate thing. I'm a hater. Turns bueautifully but is very brittle. And, usually just as you are finishing a piece, a tiny catch will blow it into smithereens. :shocked2: If you don't know what a smithereen is, try turning some. :wink:

 

[BillinOregon]

Actually, totally different species, but closely related. And western juniper self-bows are famous for blowing up unless backed with sinew. Not surprised it doesn't turn well.

 

[Billnpatti]

Know anyone in Indiana? Osage Orange is almost a weed there. Know anyone in Texas? Ask them for Bodark. That is what is called here. Because of the shape of the trees, it is full of stress wood and so very few folks will mill it into lumber because it warps and twists so badly unless you can find a large and straight tree. Most trees are bent and twisted resulting in a lot of stress wood.

If you have worked with it, you probably already know that you can make a very bright yellow dye from the sawdust. I discovered it by accident when I was making a chair from Osage Orange . I had been working all day in the shop cutting, sawing and sanding and had Osage Orange dust all over me at the end of the day. As I was coming into the house, my wife told me to strip off my clothes as I came into the utility room and put them into the washing machine so I wouldn't drag wood dust into the house. I did as she asked and went on to take my shower. While I was in the shower, I heard her yell something to me and came to see what the problem was. The Osage Orange dust on my work clothes had stained everything in the wash yellow. Fortunately, she was able to get it out but I was forbidden from using Osage Orange to make anything ever again. It was okay because I didn't like working with it anyway.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

we have osage orange here in southern PA, but offhand, I don't know where I could get some for you. usually when an oo tree is cut down the log is gone within seconds after hitting the ground.

i can get you some wild cherry, black walnut, maybe even some black gum.

 

[skunkskinner]

If you can make use of something similar to this PT me, I burn OO in the fire place anyway. :grin:

 

[omarick1948]

Osage Orange or as we call it here, "Hedge Apple" grows everywhere here. Farmers still use the stuff for barb wire posts, as the posts last for years and years! __ It lathe turns just fine, but you have to keep your lathe tools scary sharp! __ Not many powder horns makers use wood because of the wood slitting and traditionally, very rare for original examples for reference to using, except for an occasional replacement tip. Antler and horn is tougher tip material.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

I have turned some of the local juniper, it turns fine, its just soft compared to the Osage Orange I turned

 

[BillinOregon]

Tom, that's good to know. Was the juniper dry and seasoned or still green? I just roughed out a spoon in green juniper and I thought it carved nicely, but I am new at this.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I burn OO in the fire place anyway

Sinner. :shocked2: Repent. :wink:

Yes, OO has many names. I use OO simply because it seems most universal.
I work a lot of OO and enjoy it. But tools do need to be kept sharp.
The dust can be dangerous to some who are sensitive to it. I'm dubious the dust would make a stain or dye that would stay permanently yellow. The fresh cut wood is really a beautiful bright yellow-orange but it is photosensitive and with time turns a walnut dark brown.
I have tried numerous tricks and techniques to stop or slow the darkening process. None have worked.

 

[Jaeger]

Hey, Bill.....Yep, that is what my Texas uncles used to call this wood: "Bodark". I didn't figure out until I was grown up that the origin of this term is the American pronunciation/corruption of the French name for this wood: "bois d'arc" (pronounced "bwa dark") which means "bow wood" in French. I guess the natives used it for making bows a lot. Maybe you knew this already, but if you didn't, you know it now.

 

[fleener]

I got a few trees on my farm in southern Iowa. I keep some boards around, you never know when you might need one.

I had a good friend of mine used to tell the story when he was stationed in Antarctica or some such place. He and another solider got into an argument of the best kind of wood for a fence post. One said OO the other bodark. They argued for hours.

Fleener

 

[peashooterJoe]

In Alabama we call them Bowdoc, interesting the various names across the country..Peashooterjoe

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Bill,

The juniper I turned was dry from the wood pile, turned a very nice drive mallet but it was just to soft for the task. For the time it takes to turn things I find juniper not worth the investment. YMMV

Burned well in the wood stove though.

:idunno:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Turn a mallet with OO sometime. It just gets harder and harder with age. Fascinating wood.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Had a buddy that made hawk handles from the stuff.

I have seen bows from the wood. One gun stock. looked like a freak of nature, that orange wood and the rust browned furniture and barrel.