Is it Osage Orange or Locust

[Paul Maue]

I picked up a section of a log that was along the edge of a church parking lot and a residential area. The fresh cut end grain was yellowish in color and the bark stuck out in deep wide furrows. I but anchorseal on the ends and it turned a dark burgandy-reddish color after a couple of months. I turned a shallow bowl or platter out of it and just returned it the other day. I put BLO on it and this bright yellow platter is what I got.

I have no real idea what the wood is. So what is it? And will it stay this color? I liked the yellow color but I will also like it if it changes to the dark burgandy color when it had anchorseal on it.
Dimensions are 8 1/2" by 1 1/8"

I found the other half of the log that I made the platter from. It is definately not ash. And I didn't see any other trees that had the long thorns like honey locust.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice platter. Nice grain, form and finish. IMHO I don't think it is osage orange. The OO that I have turned here doesn't have that big grain pattern.

[Reed Gray]

My guess would be Black Locust. Most of it that I have seen is greenish or more yellow. The Osage is orange, no doubt about it. Both are hard, and both will oxidize to an amber color when exposed to air and UV light.

robo hippy

[William Bachtel]

That looks like either, more like Ash. Osage is yellow, and Locust is green, before the UV gets to it. Have you ever turned any Ash?

[steven carter]

Pretty sure that it is not Osage, as Bernie said, the grain is all wrong. I did turn some Mulberry that was a similar color that changed to a rusty brown with exposure to UV, and it has a much wider grain. A picture of the bark would be helpful. All the osage we have around here, the trunks are never round, there is usually a crevice in them sort of like what happens with cedar trees.


Steve

[kenneth walker]

Black Locust

[Jason Clark2]

I'm going to guess Honey Locust.

Jason

[Scott Lux]

Agree it's not Osage.

Where are you? There are areas where both locusts live, but usually one is predominant.

Being near a parking lot leads me to believe thornless variety of honeylocust. It is commonly used in parking islands because of its pollution tolerance. No one with any sense would allow a wild honeylocust near a car. :D The grain is right for honeylocust too.

Black locust is not quite as dangerous to tires, but still not something you allow near cars.

Edit: Forgot to say, That's beautiful!

[Paul Atkins]

Looks like ash of some type to me.

[Radek Kowalski]

Looks exactly like some honey locust bowls I have turned.

[Eric Kosanovich]

if it looked like this its locust.
That is vary nice by the way.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=130221

[Allen Neighbors]

I agree with Jason and Scott. I believe it's Honey Locust. Looks just like a chunk of log that my Son brought me a couple of years ago, bark, wood, and platter. Ed Karch identified it for me with a microscope.
Beautiful job on it, too, before I forget. :D
It's not yellow enough to be Osage (Bois d'Arc) Orange, and not enough greenish/blackstreaked tint to it to be Black Locust. There's a possibility that it could be Ash, but with that trunk, I don't think so. The bark isn't right, can't put my finger on it.

[curtis rosche]

the looks like mullberry. wide grain,,, yellowish,, but log is brown. did it have a smell when you turned it? locust and osage both have distinct smells, and so does mullbery

[Ray Chalenski]

Could be mulberry.Also could be box elder.We have plenty of them in Northern NJ. After they've been cut the heartwood on some will appear reddish.

[Hilel Salomon]

It isn't osage orange!!

Good luck,

Hilel.

[Baxter Smith]

Don't have a clue but love the grain in the platter!

[Paul Douglass]

The mulberry trees on my property do not have bark like that.

[kenneth walker]

Paul here do you live. locust is very heavy and rock hard, both honey and black

[Paul Douglass]

I live in SE Washington state. The desert side of the evergreen state

[Nathan Hawkes]

Red mulberry can be confused (at least by me, anyway) with osage in color to a large extent, but for me, I'd say mulberry 95% sure by the picture. Its a dead ringer, bark and all. There are a few other mulberries I know, but it looks like every mulberry I've seen in VA. H

[Dick Strauss]

Osange orange and mulberry are what I think are the most likely options! Mulberry and OO both oxidize and turn brown over time. Mulberry will tend to have rays going perpendicular across the end grain while OO will not. OO will have much deeper bark with longer rows that don't seem to be present in your bark pic. So, I'm thinking mulberry based on color and bark.

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/osage%20orange.htm

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/mulberry.htm

[Reed Gray]

If you are in SE Washington, most likely Black Locust. It is supposed to glow under UV lights. I know the sap wood does, not sure about the heart wood. The Honey (Moraine) Locust I have seen is more brown and cream colored, and not quite as hard as the Black. There is very little Osage out here.

robo hippy

[Dan Forman]

The bowl shows a much looser grain pattern than the few bowls of black locust that I've turned, which are tight ringed and fairly conventional looking. The bark looks too fine textured and not thick or orange enough for BL. Here are a couple of pics of logs, don't have any of the bowls. Black Locust grow like weeds around here, very common. The wood is very, very hard.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1020299.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1020297.jpg

Dan

[William Bachtel]

The grain patterns in the finish piece looks like Ash, but the bark in your photos is Mulberry, it is not Honey Locust bark is different the reason some Honey Locust has no thorns is one is male with thorns and the female tree has no thorns. It is not Osage, Ash, Locust,or Honey Locust, was it yellow in color when you turned it? If so it is Mulberry. By the way the bark photo is excellent.

[Cody Colston]

Looks like Mulberry to me.

[Paul Maue]

Dan

I live in Cincinnati Ohio and there are black locust trees everywhere. The bark of the BL trees here are exactly the same as in your photo. But it doesn't match the log that I made the platter from, that is why I didn't think that it was from the locust family. And as for it being mulberry, they just don't get that big in this area. I have a couple of branches from a mulberry tree and the bark is smooth. But I also know that the bark from the branch of a tree will be different than the trunk.

Curtis
And I don't remember any distict smell when I was turning it.

[Reed Gray]

Hmmm, it could be mulberry. Don't have much of it out here, but as others have said, and I didn't look closely at the bark, it isn't black locust bark. I was at a show in Davis, CA, and was talking to arborists who told me about taking down 30 inch diameter mulberry trees and seeing them cut up for firewood.

robo hippy

[steven carter]

Paul,

I am originally from Cincinnati, now live in Liberty Indiana. I can show you a mulberry tree in Connersville Indiana in Robert's park that it would take both of us to circle with our arms. The bark looks a lot like your picture, and I have some that I anchor sealed last year that looks brown like the one in your picture.

check these out:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=89974
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=97061


Steve

[Jeff Nicol]

I cut a whole ton of this stuff about a year ago and it looks just like the siberian elm I have. The little eyes in the grain gives it away for me. Siberian elm is a very fast growing tree with wide growth rings and the rugged bark that you show. It can vary from dark brown to golden and almost yellow. If you look at the dark areas in the grain you can see the wavy or zig zag pattern of most all elms. I am sure Leo will chime in on this and agree with me. Nice wood and wonderful grain for your platter.

Jeff

[Matt Hutchinson]

There's a ton of mulberry around here, and I have turned a few things out of it. The pictures match what I have in my log pile. Is it heavy and rock hard? Also, if you cut it when it was still super fresh, the sap oozes out and is milky white, and flies swarm to it by the hundreds. It was really fascinating to see every mulberry chunk I cut with a black ring of flies outlining the heartwood.

In any case, it's a neat looking bowl!

Hutch

[Dick Strauss]

Paul,
There are lots of mulberry trees in NW Ohio that grow to 2'+ in diameter.

[Dan Forman]

[QUOTE=Jeff Nicol;1333080]I cut a whole ton of this stuff about a year ago and it looks just like the siberian elm I have. The little eyes in the grain gives it away for me. Siberian elm is a very fast growing tree with wide growth rings and the rugged bark that you show. It can vary from dark brown to golden and almost yellow. If you look at the dark areas in the grain you can see the wavy or zig zag pattern of most all elms. I am sure Leo will chime in on this and agree with me. Nice wood and wonderful grain for your platter.

Jeff[/QUOTE

Paul said that he didn't remember any particular odor from the wood while turning, and the Siberian elm I have has a very distinctive odor (to put it diplomatically) that is not possible to overlook.

Dan

[Jeff Nicol]

The thing is, all woods have a particular odor all thier own. American elm is much more distinct and sort of like a cat box, while the Siberian Elm is much more subdued in comparison. It is definitly not Mulberry, or Black locust. Like I said the little eyes give it away for me, as just about every piece has a few of them in it.

None of our noses are connected so we can't share the stink, would'nt that be a crazy world!

Jeff

[Nathan Hawkes]

The eyes aren't at all a giveaway for me. While many dont share this characteristic, I've turned several mulberry bowls which exhibit this pattern quite distinctively. I'm very fond of it!! I cant seem to find the pics I'm looking for right now, but here's a mulberry platter I did a couple years ago, which shows a few of the swirls you're describing from elm. The wood id on this one is 100%. I cut the tree personally, and there are NO trees that exactly resemble mulberry's lobed edges and rough surface. I really think that this is mulberry, as it looks identical to every mulberry I've seen. FYI, the tree this bowl came from was 28" on the stump. I'm not very familiar with elm, as it isnt nearly as common in VA as in the midwest. One key detail that is very similar in both your wood as well as osage and black locust trees is the presence of deep cracks radiating from the pith that have oxidized to a deep brown/black.

these are old threads, but I cant access the last bunch of mulberry bowl pictures I have.


http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=84668
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87452

[Dan Forman]

I think we are going to have to send a DNA sample to the lab. :D

Dan

[Nathan Hawkes]

not a bad idea. My uncle is actually a retired PhD in forestry/wood science. He was telling me about a very special knife machine for taking THIN layers of wood for identification. This one looks pretty wrapped up to me, though I could be wrong! Dan, what made the tunnels in your locust?? Them be BIG carpenter ants there, matey!

[Dan Forman]

Nathan---No ants, just Anchor Seal drips. I think it would break the ant's mandibles. :D

Dan

[Nathan Hawkes]

Nathan---No ants, just Anchor Seal drips. I think it would break the ant's mandibles. :D

Dan


ahhh... Tricks of the picture. I asked because I have found them in locusts here before; I was rudely alerted to their home when milling a log a few years ago. They dont sting, but they can chew alright!!