Hedge!

[Aaron Wingert]

I recently scored a few nice hedge logs after the city arborist for the city I work for had to take down the tree because of damage. He knows I'm always interested in getting nice woods so he calls from time to time when he has something good. I had access to an entire truckload but didn't have time to grab more and anchorseal more than I grabbed that day.

I've had a 19" bandsaw for a long time but have never really used it to the extent of its capabilities, and hadn't used it to slab out fully round logs. I was terrified to run a log through the saw freehand, so today I made a log sled out of MDF, and attached the logs to it with two Kreg screws. It worked slick as a whistle! The bandsaw did great and the sled was nice and secure, although there are certainly fancier ways of making one.

One log had a colony of big black ants in it. They met their maker when I hit them with the mapp gas torch. That explains why we've been seeing the occasional big black ant in the house. :)

I slabbed the logs out and then eyeballed them into 2x2's for use in my duck calls and for the occasional bottle stopper.

Now if he'd just cut down a holly tree...:rolleyes:

[David E Keller]

That's a nice score. Looks like a ton of calls and stoppers in that stack.

[John Keeton]

Nice to have friends that have trees!!!;)

[Michael James]

My father in law says that wood is tougher than his saws when dry. I may be able to get some next trip to Illinois. F in-law uses it for fence posts.
Looks like a very attractive wood to work with. have fun and post some pics!
mj

[brian watts]

SWEET... cannot get enough of that wood....

[Baxter Smith]

That is some pretty wood! Saw too!

[Aaron Wingert]

My father in law says that wood is tougher than his saws when dry. I may be able to get some next trip to Illinois. F in-law uses it for fence posts.
Looks like a very attractive wood to work with. have fun and post some pics!
mj

Michael it is pretty hard stuff. It turns easily though, and looks beautiful. Duck call makers drool over old hedge fence posts because they have a darker honey-colored look compared to freshly sawn hedge. If it is used as fencepost in river bottoms and wet environments it turns a greenish color, and is worth its weight in gold. It is tough on chainsaw blades, that's for sure.

Here's a pic of one that I turned from some hedge recently. The burning was done with a plumbing torch very carefully, as it'll crack if you get it too hot. The chatoyance of hedge is just awesome in my opinion.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is some good looking wood. Should make some nice turnings.

[Mark Hubl]

Nice score. Ok, I give, what is "hedge"? I have not heard of it in these parts. Looks nice though. Agree on the holly, not too much of that around here either.

[Bob Vallaster]

Mark,
Looks like Osage orange, also called bois d'arc.
There's plenty of it west of you. The tree truly was found on hedges (fencelines) in Dekalb county where I lived for a while.

BobV

[Aaron Wingert]

Yup Mark, hedge is the same as osage orange or bois d' arc....Actually I suppose it is known as hedge apple tree. I might be errantly simplifying it by calling it hedge, but that seems to be what most folks call it around here.

[gary Zimmel]

Nice score Aaron. Can't have too much to turn....

[George Sanders]

Osage orange is probably the densest wood in North America. I have found that it machines beautifully but it dulls blades pretty fast. Some farms in my area have 100 year old hedge fence posts that haven't rotted out yet.

[Jeff Nicol]

My father in law says that wood is tougher than his saws when dry. I may be able to get some next trip to Illinois. F in-law uses it for fence posts.
Looks like a very attractive wood to work with. have fun and post some pics!
mj
MJ, You make the trip to Illinois and I will meet you there with the truck and the chain saw! I have family in Ottawa, Rockford and Princeton so I could do a double duty trip! Keep me posted if you plan on heading north any time soon.

Jeff

[John Keeton]

....Actually I suppose it is known as hedge apple tree. I might be errantly simplifying it by calling it hedge, but that seems to be what most folks call it around here.Aaron, when I am mowing and get into one of the low lying branches, it quickly takes on other nomenclatures - most uttered under my breathe!!:mad::eek:

It is pervasive, and I wish confined to other areas. I guess my disgust for the tree prevents me from having a good attitude about turning it. Seems others make some very nice creations from it, but I would be happy without any on our place. That day will never come! It doesn't die easily, and it crops up everywhere!

[Jim Underwood]

Seems others make some very nice creations from it, but I would be happy without any on our place. That day will never come! It doesn't die easily, and it crops up everywhere!

Well John,

I would say your chainsaw could probably solve all that for you.... And provide some very nice turning wood to boot!
:D

[Allen Neighbors]

Bois d'Arc is one of my favorite woods to turn! Ultra violet light will cause it to turn that gorgeous chocolate brown. It cuts like butter, and is resistant to bugs and rot (the bugs only get into the Sapwood, in this part of the country). The Indians used to rive it to get the slats for making their bows. They dried the Osage Oranges, to get seeds to plant to make their corrals and chicken pens.
I love that wood!! You're one fortunate guy, to get those logs!! Good score!

[John Keeton]

Jim, you are probably correct, but someone has to clean up all the limbs!:eek:

The very characteristic that makes them called "hedge" apple is the interlocking nature of the thorny branches that creates a near impenetrable barrier. It is near impossible to get them apart to pile them on a truck. The thorns make a very nasty puncture that has a tendency to fester, and the limbs, along with their thorns, will last dang near forever unless they are piled and burned. Running into one while walking through the woods kind of ruins the experience.

For me it simply isn't worth the effort. The wood, while an interesting color before aging, just doesn't hold much interest - I am tainted, I guess.

I would prefer my place be free of hedgeapple and black locust! Much prefer walnut, cherry and ash. But, that is just my opinion.

That said, some of you guys make some neat looking stuff from it, and I am glad others do not feel the way I do about this stuff!:)

[Aaron Wingert]

John, here's one more reason to hate the stuff. The city I work for has hundreds of very large hedge apple trees in various places along our roadways (in the public right-of-way). We aren't planting them, but the ones that have been there for decades are staying. They drop those darn hedge apples on the road, and at least once a year we get a claim/complaint for a broken windshield or body damage to a car. It has become such a problem that we pay our arborist to proactively remove the hedge apples before they start falling.

Buuuut, it is a shame to completely hate it because there's some beautiful wood behind all those thorns, curvy limbs and bramble! Get past all that stuff and get to the trunk and there's all kinds of potential in there for one of those awesome Keeton hollow forms! :)

[John Hart]

Wow...Nice!!:)

[Jim Underwood]

"...but someone has to clean up all the limbs!"


Yep. And that ain't no joke either.:( Every coupla years, I prune the Water Oak out front, and it's NOT cutting off the limbs that wears me out, it's the dragging of all those limbs out to the back of the lot. What looks like a couple of little limbs suddenly turns into 20 trips out back, with the crooks and hooks of the branches catching on something at every single opportunity.:mad: I can't imagine cutting down SEVERAL Locusts or Osage Orange trees, and dragging off all those limbs.... I'd rent a dang chipper for sure...

[Allen Neighbors]

I would prefer my place be free of hedgeapple and black locust!
Holy Moly!! Those are two of my favorite woods to turn. I sure wish there was a way I could come up there and get some of it. Just too far, and snaky, for an old guy. When you coming down this way, John?:D:rolleyes:;)

[brian watts]

Aaron, when I am mowing and get into one of the low lying branches, it quickly takes on other nomenclatures - most uttered under my breathe!!:mad::eek:

It is pervasive, and I wish confined to other areas. I guess my disgust for the tree prevents me from having a good attitude about turning it. Seems others make some very nice creations from it, but I would be happy without any on our place. That day will never come! It doesn't die easily, and it crops up everywhere!


this fall when it cool down pick me a tree out and iam comming up for a day or so ..is there any hotel around there??

[John Keeton]

Holy Moly!! Those are two of my favorite woods to turn. I sure wish there was a way I could come up there and get some of it. Just too far, and snaky, for an old guy. When you coming down this way, John?:D:rolleyes:;)Allen, my feelings for these trees has little to do with how they turn. We have about 70 acres, and they both spread like weeds!!! Hard on tractor tires, hard on human flesh, and bad for hay fields. I have pretty much a bad opinion of them all around!

It may be too far for ya', but it sure ain't "snaky" here! We have to go south of us a few miles or east to run into many poisonous snakes. Never have seen one on our place.


this fall when it cool down pick me a tree out and iam comming up for a day or so ..is there any hotel around there?? Brian, there are a couple behind the house you can get to pretty easily, and motels abound. But, I will want the limbs cleaned up as they are in an area where the grandkids play. Just let me know.