hard wood

[user 6227]

I'm curious have any of you had experience with Bois-d-arc trees. It can be real tough on your saw and chain. In this part of the country we've got a lot of these trees. Can make some fine primitive bows, I've been thinking of trying my hand at it. Supposed to let the wood dry for something like 15 years before making the bow. My kind of hobby.

 

[2Coilinveins]

I envy your patience.

 

[DarioMO]

Is that Osage Orange?

 

[Stumper]

Yeah he means Osage and the ageing for 15 years is a buch of hooey. Cut it and dry it to 8%-9% moisture content-That can be done with effort in a month or pretty easily in a year. (but it is possible that wood left in the round with poor air circulation in a humid area could still be above 9% after a couple of years)

 

[treesurgeon]

never did any work to any yet. have only seen two in new york, thats because of the orange size seeds. i guess they have one of the highest BTU ratings of any wood in the US.

 

[scottr]

wood drying myths

Justin , there are a lot of myths that have been tossed around concerning drying wood . One that I'll never forget is that a black walnut log has to sit on the ground for 7 years before sawing then air dried for 7 years before working . Make ya wonder if they have a problem with superstitions . Hooey is correct .

 

[woodshop]

I love to work osage orange in the woodshop... its tough, hard, but machines well and you can sand/polish it down smooth as a babies bottom. Makes great machinery fences and jig parts, as you can drill and tap it just like soft metal because the wood is so homogeneous and hard. It's also extremely rot resistant. The bottoms of my picnic table legs are osage orange, and sit in moist ground year round, no rot, still solid after 12 years. Here are a few pics of a resaw jig that uses osage orange for an adjustable rubbing block. Wears great, I love this wood. Unfortunately, most of it around here is twisted up stuff that grew in a fence row, hard to find a 3-4 ft strait log I can get some good boards from. I'll trade walnut, oak or even cherry for good size chunck of osage any day of the week.

Dave

 

[eyeinstine]

Anybody got a pic of a osage orange tree?? I thought that was a southern, or western tree; I didnt realize we had them here on the east coast too.. `The pics Woodshop just posted of some resawn looks alot like honey locust or mulberry to me.. Maybe i have been passing up good wood, or calling certain wood/trees by the wrong name!

TIA
Ron

 

[woodshop]

I can assure you the yellow wood in my pics is osage orange (Maclura pomifera). One reason it looks a bit like mulberry, is that osage and mulburry are related, they are both in the family Moraceae. The woods look similar to each other, and if you take a hand lens to a cross section of rings, they look similar there too. But osage is much harder, more homogeneous, and much yellower when freshly cut, only turning a darker brownish yellow after exposure to light and sun for a while. Osage is not native to the east coast... but was planted along roads and fields as a fence, and there are plenty of them here on the east coast now, as the huge seed pods (they look like greenish yellow brains, a bit bigger than a grapefruit) have seen to that. Don't have a pic of one at the moment, but you can easily recognize this tree, as it has a distinct furrowed bark with a yellow/orange inner bark, and prickly nasty foilage. Other than mulberry, don't think there are any other trees that have that bright yellow wood either.

 

[RatliffLogging]

I log allot of Osage for export to germany. I also get allot of crafts people looking to make bows....It must be split green to produce a strong bow...at least that is what I hear.

 

[RatliffLogging]

Oh to answer the question about color a golden to bright yellow is the color found in osage 8in plus dia log most of the time it is rare that the color is anything but yellow.

 

[eyeinstine]

I can assure you the yellow wood in my pics is osage orange (Maclura pomifera).

Hey Dave,

never doubted ya for a minute! just mentioned that it looks like mulberry, since i have split that alot and noticed the similarities. Thanks for the description of the osage tree; dont recall seeing many around here though.. I do remember seeing those big, crazy, brain looking balls on the ground, but dont remember where! Now i'll be on the hunt!

thanks!
Ron

ps. I'm working on the wood/log pile to get to that large stuff so we can check it out better.

 

[woodshop]

Thanks for the description of the osage tree; dont recall seeing many around here though.. I do remember seeing those big, crazy, brain looking balls on the ground, but dont remember where! Now i'll be on the hunt!

Well Ron, now that I think about it, I don't see as many in the sandy Jersey soil as I do over here in PA. In fact, on my travels down to the Atlantic City area and other shore points, don't recall seeing any at all, but then not really looking for them. Maybe they don't grow well in that virginia pine sandy soil type of woods. Inland though, do see them... right outside of Trenton on my way up to N Jersey the road is lined with osage orange trees.

Again... its interesting wood to work in the shop... has some unique qualities, and I grab all I can get of the stuff.

Tell me when I can run over and take a look at those logs after work some day.

Dave

 

[user 6227]

Is that Osage Orange?

yes