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Hi all. New to the forum. I am thinking of harvesting some Osage Orange trees to use in future builds. My family owns lots of farm ground in the midwest and there are endless hedge rows of Osage. Frankly, I never would have guessed Osage would be a good tonewood. We always looked at the trees as a nuisance and used them for fence posts and firewood. Anyway, while the vast majority of the trees are a twisted mess, some are large in diameter, straight, and reasonably tall. We usually use these to make corner posts with, but I figured I would reallocate their use. I probably won't cut anything till this fall or winter, and there is a gent with a rolling bandmill that will quarter most of it for a few bucks an hour.

This will be my first attempt at harvesting tonewood myself, so I'm looking for any tips I can get. Here is what I've gathered so far:

-look for straight trees with a diameter of at least 24 inches
-watch out for wood that contains dark brown streaks, as they are weak areas that will crack
-cut, split, and/or saw, then wax and stack within a short amount of time to achieve good coloring.

What lengths should I cut the logs? Thanks for you input. If all goes well, I will try to throw some pictures up when the deed is done.

Aaron

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Aaron Craig

Six foot lengths are nice: you can get two side pieces or three backs.

Cut as close to final dimension as you can, particularly in thickness. The more curved the annual ring lines are on the end of the piece, the more tendancy there will be for cupping and checking. I've noticed lots of drying degrade in the OO that I've seen, so anything you can do to minimise it is a good idea.

I've found that a couple of coats of latex paint on the end grain works really well. The object is not so much to totally stop moisture from getting out as to equalize the loss on all faces. Remove the bark.

For the few trees I've processed we cut things into fairly small wedges or well quartered planks, got the bark off, painted the ends, and 'square stacked' the pieces: one layer north-south and the next east-west. Put a cover over the top of the stack to keep the rain off, but leave the sides open to the air. Make sure the pile is out of full sunlight. Go back after a week or so and re-stack it all, checking for drying problems and mold. This will get about 90% of the moisture out of the wood in a couple of months, so you'll have little problem with rot and fungus.

Those are some great tips Allen. Greatly appreciated.

Aaron

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Aaron Craig

I can't offer any advice on processing, but I could help you use up the supply when you're done
I never knew we even had Osage Orange around here. But I also didn't know until just now that a hedge apple was the same thing, and those are all over the place.

6 foot lengths would indeed be the most useful, I think. Works out nicely with harp guitar dimensions as well, if you feel like cutting any (I'd buy one or two off you). One harp back and one normal back. One long harp side and one short harp arm side.

I'll have to see how it all turns out, but if all goes well I wouldn't be against spreading the bounty. That would be a very interesting looking harp guitar. It would be heavy, but I bet the sound would be pretty sweet. I'll try my best to post the harvest process. Maybe I'll take some pics along the way. Then everyone can tell me all the things I'm sure I'll do wrong so I don't make the same mistakes again.

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Aaron Craig

We often saw and kiln dry Osage Orange. I would prefer to saw immdiatedly and sticker next day. If you are using a bandsaw mill the 6' tends to work the sawyer to death(We have a HD40 Woodmizer mill) Second I would recommend stickering the material with non staining stickers. Trex or Kilz painted stickers work best. We also have our own kilns and kiln dry Osage Orange. Our typical procedure is to air dry for approximately 30 days and then place in the kiln. Lumber left outside will never go below 16%- 20% mosiuture content unless you live in a desert no matter how long it sets outside for most of the US.

Most conventional kilns work by raising the temperature over a period of time at a predetermined period of time or mositure content and causing air to flow through the stickered stack in the chamber. Osage is no exception but it must be done somewhat slower and longer. Typical kiln time is 40-45 days per 4/4. We also have a vacuum kiln where the whole process changes and different criteria are used .... a load can be processed as fast as 4 days using this kiln but it is very easy to ruin an entire load with these kilns. The advantage to these kinds of kilns is that they are able to process thick stock rapidly. .... Example 16/4 cherry conventional kiln.... 120+ day vacuum kiln 7 days.

Osage makes for a great sounding guitar it tends to split more easily than some other woods and is more porus. The wood its self is very light sensitive and will turn a dark brownish orange color with some finishes or if left unfinished. So check with your chemical guy before using a finish.

Kevin Waldron
Waldron Instruments, Inc.

Interesting Kevin: I've found Osage to be pretty chippy, but it seems to resist splitting well, and certainly better than Brazilian rosewood.

Speaking of which: the half dozen samples of OO that I've done material tests on have come out to be _at least_ as good as BRW, if stiffness, density, and damping mean anything. The guitars I've made from it certainly bear that out. It's a bit denser than BRW, but if you work it the same as you would the tropical stuff you won't be disappointed.

I _really_ hope we're going to see this stuff become more available in the future!

We have a program that we use a lot especially when we where building furniture called "The Wood Explorer" . This program gives all kinds of statistics about various woods along with a photo.

I'm including a portion of the data showing weight etc. of Osage orange and Brazilian Rosewood. I'm also included the information on Mortising and Moulding. Our experience has shown that woods that are poor in Mortising and Moulding tend to be open grain species with long grains that will split out fairly easily.

Osage Orange is a great wood to work with but it does require some understanding of how the grain runs. The Indians of old used Osage orange for bows because of the spring back and the long grains.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

One (I am not sure if there are others) of the reasons Osage can be so twisty is that farmers were taught to "weave" the young plants into a wall. They made excellent wind breaks during the dustbowl years. I am not sure about splitting, but they are used in bow making. Those twisty parts ought not be ignored... there is probably some unusual figure in there. May be a bit tough getting through the bandsaw mill, but again, might be worth it.

If you get any nice 4/4 boards out of it (after the cure) please contact me if you would like to sell some. Flitch format is fine, no excess milling if possible.

Mike