# osage orange



## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

A friend of mine has a farm near Henderson, Tx. This last week a large Boisdark (sp) fell on to his vintage barn and needed to be removed. The tree was living and when cut up so of course the wood is still green and he brought me a couple of big cross sections of the trunk. They are about two feet across and three feet long. Here are my questions; I am a the kind of craftsman that buys his lumber cut to standard dimensions and builds from there, and never something so out of the norm as osage orange. I am contrary so I like doing different things and this wood is at present a beautiful yellow with accents. Is it worth the effort to get it milled before it dries hard as stone? Will working with dried boards, making a chest for instance, be a problem because of the hardness or any other reason I do not know off? The only thing I ever made from this kind of wood was a long bow years ago. Thanks for all your thoughts, Gary


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## JS Fog (Sep 4, 2012)

I have a friend with his own saw mill and he cut some osage orange into boards. They dried well and I made several turning out of the wood. Over time they have all turned dark brown. I would not put a lot of time into making something nice that you were hoping will stay yellow.


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## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

Thank you for that information. The bow I made years ago has also aged to a dark brown. Now I have about 5-600# in two stumps to find a use for.


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## bill (May 21, 2004)

I like the look when it ages. The stumps would have some great uses. I guess I would seal the ends and store it, might even rough shape out some things on a lathe and then seal it up in a bag with chips.

If turning, then even go ahead and get the project and wait for it to warp into something new (still seal it as much as possible to keep from cracking)


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## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

Anyone have a suggestion where with in fifty miles of the greater Houston area I could take this chunk to get it cut into lumber?


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

you can try LJS Sawmill in Rosharon. They charge $100/hour for milling work.

they may not be interested in cutting osage.


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## johnnyrodriguez (Jan 9, 2016)

try JFM International in Willis I don't have the number


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## SetDaHook (Oct 21, 2010)

Might try M and G sawmill in Huntsville. More than 50 miles but good guys to work with


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Osage Orange is a very sought after wood for making the handles of custom knives. Even big knife companies like Case and Great Eastern Cutlery offer it on their pocket knives. It finishes beautiful, is hard, durable, and split resistant. The picture of the knife on this page has scales (Handles) made of Osage Orange - https://www.knivesshipfree.com/great-eastern-cutlery-82/


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## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

My grandpa was a blacksmith back in the early 1900's. He said he used to make single trees, and double trees (rigs to hook mules/oxen/horses to wagons, plows etc.) out of Boisdark. Said it was the only wood he would actually strike sparks out of when saw cut! LOL

Later
R3F


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