Fun milling Osage orange

[Woodmaster1]

Spent the slabbing out Osage logs.

[Scrappile]

Beautiful wood.  

[Gene Howe]

Growing up in S. IL, "Hedge" as we called it was plentiful. Fresh cut, it's gorgeous but that color is fleeting. In HS ('59) I turned a lamp base out of it. Finished it with an oil of some sort (can't remember) under shellac.  Mom gave it a place of pride, on the piano. It got sun for part of the day. Within six months, or so, that pretty orange turned deep brown. 

[Joe W.]

Another tidbit to add to my stockroom of info.

Yesterday, I had my first go at resawing a 7 1/2" diameter, 22 inch long cherry log from a friends tree that blew over in a storm.

Heartwood portion of the 1 inch thick slabs are about 5 inches.  Painted the ends and good it stickered in the garage.
It will be interesting to see how that will react to the weather/sunlight.

[MarieC]

I have never seen that wood before.  Very pretty!

[Gene Howe]

36 minutes ago, MarieC said:

I have never seen that wood before.  Very pretty!

Your Madrone is pretty nice, too. 

Some folks, such as dummies like me, have tried to work Osage Orange into various projects. The best use I've found is for structural parts. A friend of mine used it to construct several Chevalets. A sort of marquetry device. He hosts a marquetry school near Victoria Can. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Gene Howe