# Osage Orange



## missouriboy (Apr 29, 2012)

Hi.

Has anyone ever milled and Osage orange and if so what is it used for. :msp_biggrin:


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## brookpederson (Apr 29, 2012)

Yes; it has an awsome yellow color well you mill it, that turns into more of a brown after time and sunlight. It is incredibly strong and bendy and is one of the best woods for making longbows besides yew.


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## Stihl-in-Ky (Apr 29, 2012)

Yes I have milled O.O. it is very dense and hard so I have used it for mallet heads nunchucks,wear slides for a hay roller, it is also good for a contrast wood it machines very well but will dull steel tools so you will have to sharpen more often carbide is your friend.I like it for the color and when I make present for my family out of it they get a kick when I use woods that are uncommon.Some of the prettiest picture frames I made are made of osage orange.I also use some on every toy I can when making toys for the grandsons.


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## missouriboy (Apr 29, 2012)

Is there a market for the stuff. :msp_biggrin:


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## discounthunter (Apr 29, 2012)

missouriboy said:


> Is there a market for the stuff. :msp_biggrin:



yes and no. people do buy it , alot(i use this term loosely as most pieces in calls are 2-3") is used in games ie,duck ,crow,deer,gooseand turkey.its a good sounding wood and durable. color is nice as it stands out. as far as making any money selling it,well. i wouldnt plan my retirement on it. not just any wood is sout after. certain grain patterns,color, straightness,ect. the most looked for are old fence post that have been embedded in mud and stained to a dark or olive green.(thats where the money is)


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## Cody Colston (Apr 29, 2012)

I've never milled it but I have worked with it quite a bit...bowls, hollow forms, duck calls, mallets, keepsake boxes and a rocking chair.

View attachment 236224


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## Dave Boyt (Apr 30, 2012)

Milling hedge with a chain saw would be quite a chore. Even with a band mill, you'll be milling slow and changing blades often. I sell some to custom woodworkers, but I wait for them to tell me what they want before I mill it. I use it for raised bed garden frames, and as an alternative to cement blocks where ground contact would rot most other woods. I would definitely try milling some. At least you know that it won't rot before you sell it or use it!

Check out the "center" of this hedge log.







I let a friend cut some hedge on my Norwood mill. I think he's hooked...






Where in Missouri are you located? I'm about 20 miles south of Joplin.


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## john taliaferro (Apr 30, 2012)

Yep he's got one of thoes Grins . His wife is gonna be upset with you .Got any more pictures ?


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## BobL (Apr 30, 2012)

Dave Boyt said:


> Milling hedge with a chain saw would be quite a chore .. . .



Just about everything I mill (with a CSM) is as hard as OO, or harder. I wouldn't call it a chore as I am pretty lazy and I wouldn't continually be back for more if it was. What happens is one learns to sharpen really really well - or go home. :msp_smile:


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## redoakneck (Apr 30, 2012)

The guy at the place I sell wood to wants as many 16' long fence boards from OO as I can get, problem is oo grows curvy and 16' straight is NLA in most trees that I can get. Also the center is cavitated or hollow in a lot of the older OO trees.

Nice stuff, sharpen often and clean yer air filter often also, yellow dust makes my buggers really glow!!!


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## missouriboy (Apr 30, 2012)

Im live about an hour and a half east of kansas city in a small small town. Lots of osage orange. I can make ok money selling it for fence post. But some of the bigger stuff i would mill and sell if i could make any money doing it. IF not i would just sell it for corner post. Just looking for new markets


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## Dave Boyt (Apr 30, 2012)

john taliaferro said:


> Yep he's got one of thoes Grins . His wife is gonna be upset with you .Got any more pictures ?



Sure. Here are some boards from the log. Now I'm the one with the grin! The woodworker these are going to actually likes the wide cracks. He fills them with a turquoise/epoxy and it looks like a river flowing through the board. Very nice... and pricey.








BobL said:


> Just about everything I mill (with a CSM) is as hard as OO, or harder. I wouldn't call it a chore as I am pretty lazy and I wouldn't continually be back for more if it was. What happens is one learns to sharpen really really well - or go home. :msp_smile:



BobL, Your're right, but Osage orange still slows things down compared to most local woods... sharpening 150+ links of chain isn't a chore?

Missouriboy, I Wish we lived closer.


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## BobL (Apr 30, 2012)

Dave Boyt said:


> Sure. Here are some boards from the log.


Nice boards!



> BobL, Your're right, but Osage orange still slows things down compared to most local woods...


Occasionally I get to cut a softer type wood and that that really highlights the speed difference.



> sharpening 150+ links of chain isn't a chore?


Nah, sharpening is my "zen time" - I like the contrast between the quiet time of the rasp of the file versus the noise and dust of the cuttin. My touch ups are relatively quick, 3 x 1 second strokes and 1 second to move the cutter, so my 92 cutter chain takes ~6 minutes to touch up



> Missouriboy, I Wish we lived closer.


Yeah I'd like to cut some of you more interesting woods.


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## abbott295 (Apr 30, 2012)

My Dad, long retired as a deputy sheriff, has a billy club made from Osage orange that a friend of an uncle of his turned for him early in his career. It was too pretty to use (carry) and probably too deadly to use (as a club.) And old hedge posts are almost impossible to drive a staple into.


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## littlestinger (May 4, 2012)

I have never used osage orange for anything, but I have noticed it for sale in a few different specialty lumber stores at extremely high prices.

Woodwerks, which is a high end specialty lumber store, sells it for $18 a board foot, and Keims only stocks a few turning blanks but they are pretty pricey as well.


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## Dave Boyt (May 4, 2012)

Wow... Looks like Osage orange is gold in more than just color. I bought a trailer load of it for $100 delivered. It will mill out around 400 board feet. They were too big for fence posts, and the seller was glad to get rid of them. If anyone wants to to buy some, I could sell it for a little less than Woodwerks does. Say, $17.50 per bd ft?


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## 1969cj-5 (May 7, 2012)

littlestinger said:


> I have never used osage orange for anything, but I have noticed it for sale in a few different specialty lumber stores at extremely high prices.
> 
> Woodwerks, which is a high end specialty lumber store, sells it for $18 a board foot, and Keims only stocks a few turning blanks but they are pretty pricey as well.



I buy it from the Amish saw mill here for $1.50 per board foot. Makes great stall boards. Once it cures up it impossible to break.


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## MHouse1028 (May 8, 2012)

nice lookin stuff reminds me of black locust..i read up on the osage orange and it's been used as railroad ties,wagon wheels,fence post and apparently is the best lumber to use for cutting boards...they say the lumber is scarce so keep cutting it because i bet theres some money to be made there


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## bigtrouble (May 9, 2012)

*Bow's*

I had a friend give me a piece of oo 2"x3"x 5' to play with. I was going to do some carving with it. A man seen it and offered me $50.00 for it. I didn't do any carving. The guy uses it to make custom bow's and has to have it shipped to southern New Mexico.:msp_w00t:


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## Dave Boyt (May 9, 2012)

Does he want some more??? PM me!


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## bigtrouble (May 10, 2012)

Dave Boyt said:


> Does he want some more??? PM me!



Not sure if I can find him but I can check with local's and see. Let you know if so.


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## Hedgerow (May 10, 2012)

Dave Boyt said:


> Does he want some more??? PM me!



Need a couple more logs Dave??? Not sure how many board feet I can haul at a time...


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## Dave Boyt (May 10, 2012)

I'll PM ya.


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