Anybody in the Columbus GA area know if there is any demand for this type of wood? I heard its used for making bows. I was told you fine fellows here might know. Thanks!
Osage Orange
- Thread starter GeorgiaVol
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Yes that is so, relatives two hundred and more years ago did so. The craft was not passed done to me by Dad's grandmother and great grandmother for ancient reasons.
A member has asked for some to make bows ,but I forget which thread he asked. He might have design out on W coast where osage isn't
A member has asked for some to make bows ,but I forget which thread he asked. He might have design out on W coast where osage isn't
Fallguy1960
ArboristSite Member
Try going on the site called Tradbow.com you will find some selfbow shooters that maybe interested. It is one of the best bow woods we have.
Thank you. I have 2 very large ones and some big sections need to come down.
Besides being good for bows, (also called Bois D'ark, bodark, hedge) makes great tool and axe handles and great wood for turning on a lathe. I made a round mallet for wood carving. Also great firewood if you don't mind the popping from the oils in it - which also makes it a good outdoor wood, resistant to rot.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/co...with-many-names-also-has-many-uses-627930.php
http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/co...with-many-names-also-has-many-uses-627930.php
Boomer 87
Addicted to ArboristSite
Hedge is what we know it as around these parts. Farmers have been using hedge poles to make fence post for decades, bc it lasts forever, burns hot and long in a wood stove. Litttle warning it is hell on chains, hedge is unbelievably hard
I have cut and burned quite a bit in the ole wood stove. Way hotter than oak or hickory. A good size log lasts all night. And it is crazy hard. I only cut off the huge dead one that's in the woods behind my house.
Here is a clip of me cutting a piece off with a Husqvarna 365. Chain was a little dull, but it got through it.
That tree has been laying on the ground for 10 to 15 years. Almost no rot.
I had some bandsaw milled a while back. Green, wasn't too bad to cut but the yellow sawdust covered everything. It turns nicely on a lathe - probably due to the oils in the wood. Starts out bright yellow but ages to a very dark orange/brown.
Here's a photo.
I bet that axe handle will last longer than a hickory one
BobL mills some pretty hard Aussie hard wood every day and gets it done. It really helps not to stick the bar in the dirt when you cut through the log. A little nick in the dirt after each cut and 10 cuts later you have a very dull saw. I've milled Black Locust which is about 1700 on the Janka scale, Osage is about 2700, some of the exotic hardwoods were 3200 or so, Joe.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I get that alot here from glacier silt embedded in the bark. The 100+ mph winter winds sandblasts the trees.
I seriously want a lathe now. So much I could do with one.
My father has a billy club turned from Osage orange. It's a good solid piece. On the farm growing up, Osage orange (hedge) fence posts were almost impossible to drive a fence staple into. Some posts probably weren't over 2 inches in diameter. Tough suckers, they were. No posts, no fences, no livestock on the farm these days. But he still has a Farmall Super M that he bought new in 1954.
PheasantHunter
ArboristSite Member
I just built a set of Adirondack chairs out of hedge/osage lumber that a friend in Kansas gave me. The whole dang shop is yellow with the sawdust! I will try to remember to post photos.
