Thread: Osage Orange

hi karl .what types of timber and sizes are you after? give me a list and i will see what i have.bob

I have a stack of what might be bloodwood. But that's just a wild guess. It's a deep red/brown colour and veeeeeeeeeery hard. I've used it for; a baseball bat, a mallet, drumsticks and the centrepiece of a jewellery box (perrty).

Now it is old construction timber so it's 4" by 2" and may contain nail holes. But I can find some nearly flawless pieces for you.
They're in 2m approx. lengths.

Now I'm into making bows fer shootin' and you see Osage is up there as one of the best woods for the job. Sooo I'd be wanting a 70" length.
Got anything like that?

Funky C

Hi Karl,

How about some purpleheart?

cheers
Wendy

Gday All thanks for the replies. The timber that you have sounds great I am after some brigalow ring gidgee purple heart malley and any type of hard or burlwood that I can get I do a lot of carving and small burlwood is great to mount birds on .I am even chasing carving timber like cheesewood .As for bow material the longest that i have is 900mm long most of the wood I have is about 300 diameter and can cut to your size .As I wrote before it does not have to be large pieces(my back won,t take it, I broke it years ago but still having fun)Let me know what you want and i will get to it Many thanks Karl
P.S The timber has been dried for about 8 yrs.
If I have replied in the wrong place for this thread please let me know as I am new to this

Hi Karl,

Cool!! I'll take a photo of the purpleheart for you and post it here.

Cheers
Wendy

PS you are a newbie?? sorry wouldn't have guessed

Here's the purpleheart picture as promised. The pieces are about 400 long, about 190 wide and I think about 19mm thick.

cheers
Wendy

So, that's why I now have this new access-hole in my purpleheart deck!?

love the purple heart let me know what size you want and I will post it to you email me your address [email protected] Regards karl

This is a blank that I cut about a year ago.Now I know how to upload I will send some fresh cut timber photos .Regards Karl

Karl,
I am also on the lookout for bow making osage. I do not have any timber other than camphor turning blanks to swap but would be happy to buy some of the 900mm logs if a bow can be got out of them. Any chance of a pic of the longer bits.


Regards
John

Gday No problems John I will post some photos tomorrow Regards karl

Hi!

What size piece of Osage Orange is required to
make a bow?

Should it initially be a straight piece or is a bent
piece an advantage?


Allan

__________________________________________

I am not at all worried about dying
... but just hope I am not there at the time.

Allan,
I need to get 66" so by splicing 2 x 900mm or about 36" I will just make it. Strait is better but up to a point you work with what you have got. The splice is at the handle and takes up 4" of overlap. The grain needs to run the length if the limbs so split is better than sawn. Have a look at the Ozbow site there are a lot of build alongs. About the hardest thing to do in woodworking is make an all wood bow that works well.
Osage is one of the better woods for this so if anybody comes across some save the plain strait bits for us bowyers. The best bits for turning are the crooked knarley bits anyhow.

Regards
John

Sorry a day late the log has a split on the side right down to the bottom .You can get good timber straight grained from both sides Judge for yourself Regards Karl