Osage Orange

[dai sensei]

I scored 5 logs of Osage Orange from Phil Whitton on my trip south (see here (http://www.woodworkforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=87906&page=3)). They have been cut down for around six years and the cracks unfortunately extend from one end to the other in at least quarters, but there is still a lot of good timber in them.

I started by slicing the logs down the middle trying to follow the primary cracks where possible. I then sliced each half into 50mm thick freehand by following a marked line as the drift on the bandsaw was greater than the fence's adjastment. Again I started at the major cracks and worked my way out. There were also a lot of hollows in the log, but hopefully there is enough for what I want.

I'm going to use the timber to make one of Rocker's rocking chairs. It is currently at 17% moisture, so I have stickered and stacked the planks in the dark corner of my garden shed for a month or two of settling and further drying, before final trimming to size on the tablesaw/thicknesser. Unfortunately I could not get the widths I need for the wider stock necessary for the chair back legs, but I can use smaller laminated pieces similar to the way the actual rocking base is made.

Left-overs will end up as pepper grinder, trinket boxes and pen blanks, so nothing will go to waste. I even cleaned the dusty out before starting so I could save the sawdust for inlay work, just need to keep the daylight away to keep the colour.

Cheers

[DJ’s Timber]

Nice one :2tsup:

If you can spare some, I'd love 2 pieces at 75mm x 75mm x 350mm :U

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Yowsers! Nice score!

And a lot of hard work, by the looks. :wink:

[dai sensei]

If you can spare some, I'd love 2 pieces at 75mm x 75mm x 350mm :U

I will see what is left over and bring some down on my next trip, October?


Yowsers! Nice score!
And a lot of hard work, by the looks. :wink:

Manhandling 1.6m long 250-300mm OO logs on my own for the first cut was hard yakka. Stopped the bandsaw a few times when the log moved :o. I have a heap of blackwood to cut up so I should make a decent sled :-

[DJ’s Timber]

I will see what is left over and bring some down on my next trip, October?

Look forward to it :2tsup:



Manhandling 1.6m long 250-300mm OO logs on my own for the first cut was hard yakka. Stopped the bandsaw a few times when the log moved :o. I have a heap of blackwood to cut up so I should make a decent sled :-

Sounds like you need to copy Vern's jig :;

[dai sensei]

Sounds like you need to copy Vern's jig :;

Yeh I've got it marked as a future project. Just it's more mork, more to store etc :-

[BobL]

Nice work DS, looks like its got some nice figure in it.

[pjt]

That's nice looking wood,
Have a look at the recent macadamia thread, I included a few of my bandsaw with sled trolley set up, might give u a few ideas. Not sure how to do the link thingy:?,
Peter.

Linky (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?p=911394#post911394) to other thread :;

Link added by DJ's Timber

[BoomerangInfo]

Boy, if I tried to do that on my bandsaw, I'd snap the blade within 30 seconds, but then yours looks a little more upmarket than mine. If I had the money I'd have about 4 bandsaws in my shed, each with a different blade mounted for different kinds of work. They're such versatile machines, just the blade changing is a pain.

Timber looks great too. I reckon those bits with the hollows would make great worthless wood casts for pen blanks :)

Russell.

[dai sensei]

...yours looks a little more upmarket than mine. If I had the money I'd have about 4 bandsaws in my shed, each with a different blade mounted for different kinds of work. They're such versatile machines, just the blade changing is a pain

Mine is a Jet 16". Yes, I too would like a number of them with different blades, but space and $'s are always a pronlem.


Timber looks great too. I reckon those bits with the hollows would make great worthless wood casts for pen blanks

Nothing will go to waste. I also have some Red Gum hybrid blanks riddled with very small dia white ant holes that are also destined for the resin pot :U

[nifty]

Nice looking stuff, If any of you guys ever come across more osage, I know of a couple of bowyers that would buy the stuff. It is a very good timber for making tradition al long bows. The blanks would have to be 70x35x2.1

[dai sensei]

The longest log was 1.6m, from which I think the longest 70mm piece would be around 500mm. I'm going for 6mm laminations for my ~1.5m stock that I need from the 50mm slabs.

[ElizaLeahy]

Major jealousy....

Lucky you! :)

You are going to have fun with that!

[dai sensei]

You will have to make it to the next BBQ Eliza, should be plenty of long thin leftovers for your hair thingies :D

[ElizaLeahy]

I'll be there! As long as it isn't Easter weekend. Or the 13th of June. Or any Sunday.

[bsrlee]

If the logs had been a bit longer - say 1.8m, then a lot of would be bow makers would be chasing you down for sawing up those logs.

Even the shorter stuff is good if you just rive it down the cracks, you make a flat bow with a parchment or sinew backing, if the timber is really short you glue it up with a fishtail at the handle.

Anyhow, its all too late now.

[timbertalk]

For the record, this is 'deep yellowwood'. Looks very similar to me, but no idea what a live tree looks like.

[timbertalk]

Sorry, meant to post this in the 'timber' forum, under the osage orange thread there!