Osage Orange question

Re: Osage Orange question

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Hi Roger,

Osage is one of my favorit woods to turn. I'm not sure if I'd drive 60 miles to gather some....but it is realy pretty and nice to turn.

Jennifer

Re: Osage Orange question

Rob Ceraso

>Am I missing something??

If it's across from your workplace, can't you just gather and cut some after work one day/night? Why do you need to make a special trip?

Re: Osage Orange question

Roger Smith

>Thanks for the reply. I probably need to make the trip anyway. Yesterday was my wife's birthday and I sure she would enjoy lunch or dinner.

Re: Osage Orange question

Roger Smith

>The construction company has already applied for a burn permit. They will have it early next week. The last forecast I saw was rain on Monday.

Re: Osage Orange question

Ric Taylor

>If you can get nice 16" pieces, by all means go for it.

Ric

Re: Osage Orange question

John Trant (Baltimore/DC area)

>If you have a nearby plot of nice wood that is being clear cut, then I would not worry about traveling. There were two things I had to learn ... I did not have to possess every downed tree and if I let this tree go, there will be another one soone enough.

John

Modified Thinking

Jay in TX (formerly Ohio)

>John,

I used to think that way too, until I moved to here in Fort Worth. Now I hop on it before one of two things happen. 1. It gets chipped, or 2. The firewood business staps it up.

Wood doesn't last long around here when it shows up, and I haven't had any takers for free or trade (ie. free bowl/vase/etc.) Just my experience, YMMV.

Re: Osage Orange question

John Lucas

>Roger

I try to take most interesting wood I'm offered whether i need it or not. I cut if up and give it to other turners or put it in our club Raffle. I don't have any trouble coming up with wood but some turners do and really appreciate it.

Re: Osage Orange question

Charlie Anderson in Southern Maryland

>The president of our turning club said he got so bad at wanting every downed tree, he went on a STEP program.

Sure, Take Every Piece

Re: Osage Orange question

Bruce in N.B. Canada

>Go for it Roger, I think I would drive three or four times that distance for a load. Heck I have never seen the wood let alone turn it, but seems to be pretty nice stuff from what I have heard.

Bruce in Saint John, N.B. Canada

Re: Osage Orange question

Mike Brazeau

>I would do it for Osage. If your chain is properly sharpened, any saw should cut it. I love Osage so much I am leaving a legacy on our 4 acre lot. I picked up some fruit in December down by our cottage at Lake Erie and am going to plant the seeds this spring. It is rare in our neck of the woods.

Mike

Re: Osage Orange question

Ruth in So. Cal

>Bruce, I don't think I had even heard of it before I came down to S. Cal last year....and now I have some as a neighbour took his tree down. I had NO idea what it was and had to do a search. Use my email address to send me your mailing address and I will get some to you.

ruth

Re: Osage Orange question

DWFII

>I'm kind of a greenhorn but one of the first woods I started working with--for tool handles and candlesticks and even pens was OO. I've turned other woods, of course--the requisite coocbolo and Olive and Black locust and tulipwood and bocote...to name a few, but if I had access to good, fresh OO, I'd snap it up pronto. I love it. It's dense, fine grained and turns really well.

Be aware, however that it needs to be properly end-grain sealed and seasonsed if possible. It is a wood that liteally wants to tear itself apart and it will crack if not properly sealed.

It turns bright yellow with a good amount of...what do they call that? chatoyance? Some finishes will not preserve that yellow colour, though. At which point it turns a mellow tannish brown. It also gets harder and harder as it ages. Some of the oldtimers in the midwest will tell you that Osage Orange left out in the elements (like fence posts) will last hundreds of years but you'll never drive another nail into it once it's finished aging.

DW

In the High Desert of Central Oregon

Re: Osage Orange question

JamieDonaldson

>There is no finish that will prevent Osage from turning brown over time and light exposure, and make sure you cut it before the sticky sap makes a mess! And you will need 2 or 3 Poo-lans!! Don't you know the story that if a farmer offers you an Osage fence post to turn, you'll know for sure he's not your Buddy!!?? LOL,LOL

Re: Osage Orange question

Dominic Greco at home in Richboro, PA

>Roger,

Osage Orange is one of my favorite woods to turn. Yeah, it's a tough one. Especially when dry. But it turns easier when wet. Keeping you turning tools nice and sharp will go a long way towards making this tough wood more manageable.

Yes, the bright yellow color will fade. But ALL wood does that. I think that the mellower dark honey tone it develops is just as nice.

I've attached a picture of an Osage Orange Platter I turned this past November to give you an ide what it looks like.

Just about anything I turn from Osage is a guaranteed quick sale for me. Several years ago, I turned (3) or (4) 10" diameter fruit/salad bowls for a Holiday Craft show. These bowls never made it to the display table! They were picked out of the packing box by a customer before I could set them out! She gave them out as Xmas present to her family.

If you're going to be headed in that direction anyway, why not pick up a load? You may end up liking it as much as I do.

Good luck!

See ya around,

Dominic

this is how rot resistant it is

Tom Sontag - St. Louis

>A friend raised on a farm says he knows of OO trunks(installed upsidedown) that are on their third set of barbed wire.

Now THAT's a fence post!

Re: this is how rot resistant it is

Tom Colligan, Peoria

>I've read that the three most rot resistant woods are: Osage Orange, Black Locust and Red Mulberry. They each have a color in their names!