wood identification help please

[Tim Passmore]

Please help me identify this wood that was found along the road. My first thought was Tulip, however I'm uncertain. It is somewhat hard when turned. The photo may not do it justice----very golden/yellow in color. Located in east central Indiana.

[Mel Fulks]

Osage orange...is my guess

[Reed Gray]

Most likely black locust. It will turn amber as it ages. Similar to Osage Orange, hard and heavy.

robo hippy

[Tim Passmore]

Thanks guys----it is hard and heavy.

[Morey St. Denis]

Definitely Not Tulip Poplar. Somewhat hard or noticeably hard during turning? Have you got any sense of its comparative density? The bark, grain and coloration bring to mind Locust, but that is really hard, dense & heavy, often with interlocking longitudinally twisted grain structure. Black Locust tends more toward a greenish yellow color, but might be Honey Locust. Always useful to scour the ground near these unknown finds for potential leaf structure, thorns on smaller branches or seed pods. Got easy access to a blacklight bulb? Black Locust wood will fluoresce under blacklight, not so sure that applies to Honey Locust.

Confirmed; Honey Locust wood also exhibits that same uniquely characteristic florescent glow when under blacklight. This test will narrow it definitively to Locust...

A deep golden yellow / amber color when fresh cut that steadily turns dark chocolate brown from surface oxidation & sunlight would indicate Mulberry. With some candidate leaf samples, small branches or seed, we might be able to quickly rule out Horse Chestnut... There is also some slight potential for something known as the Kentucky Coffee Tree... Unless the color correctness of my monitor is off, it doesn't appear amber enough, approaching orange, to be indicative of Osage Orange. As a wood turner you'll be well situated for this next test; once soaked in water, shavings from Osage Orange heartwood will readily leach color, turning the water yellow. Neither Locust nor Red Mulberry have this characteristic.

Further suggestion: A trivial common object shown within the image frame to indicate some sense of scale would be most helpful... You'll rarely find Osage Orange approaching the size potential of Locust. Is that a special AstroTurf background or just your typical highly medicated golf course quality lawn?..

[carl mesaros]

Bark doesn't look like Honey Locust. Possibly could be Mulberry?

[Allan Wright]

I agree with Black Locust. Warning, that stuff is hard as iron. You'll be sharpening your tools a lot on that wood. I planked a deck with the stuff as I had a lot milled off my property. I had to drill every hole for the nails to fasten it down. I went through 14 drill bits. This was back in the days before decking screws.

According to what I was told, black locust was the wood Noah's arc was made from. I seriously doubt it, but my father told me it so I still perpetuate the lie. Family tradition.

[Allan Wright]

I agree with Black Locust. Warning, that stuff is hard as iron. You'll be sharpening your tools a lot on that wood. I planked a deck with the stuff as I had a lot milled off my property. I had to drill every hole for the nails to fasten it down. I went through 14 drill bits. This was back in the days before decking screws.

According to what I was told, black locust was the wood Noah's arc was made from. I seriously doubt it, but my father told me it so I still perpetuate the lie. Family tradition.

To confirm, were there any of the small branches present when you picked it up. The Black Locust that grows here in New Hampshire has huge thorns on the thin branches. The thorns are 2-3 times the size of rose thorns and just as sharp.

[Tim Passmore]

Mystery solved-----I returned to the scene and found the person cutting the wood and got to look around----Osage Orange. Thanks for all of your input. Sure is hard!

[Mel Fulks]

People used to grow fences with it . There was even a government pamphlet giving instructions. Basically plant in line and wrap each plant once around the one next to it. Since it was by a road your tree could be a descendant or...the "last of its line". I hope to one day see an old one.

[Tim Passmore]

The guys cutting it down are repurposing the limbs for fence posts and braces. The gentleman said it was impervious to rot. I've turned a couple of bowls---- I really like the colors, but it is very hard.

[William Bachtel]

Black locust. Almost certain. If you photo is true to color, its locust.

[Bill Boehme]

I noticed the thread after the mystery was solved, but I was fairly certain that it was Bois D'Arc AKA Osage Orange. And, I have heard that a bois d'arc fence post is so durable that it will outlast three post holes.

[Ben Pierce]

I was so impressed with Osage orange that I named my turning biz Osage Turnings. The Osage were a warlike Indian tribe native to my area of Arkansas. Folks around here call it bois d'arc, pronouncing it "Bo Dark." The dust is florescent orange but the wood turns a beautiful golden brown with age. Tough to find a straight trunk; tends to grow gnarly and crooked, and thrives in stream beds around here. I'm waiting for someone to offer me a downed tree. :) I'll go cheerfully with chainsaw and files. Random aside: there's an old belief that the big green fruits keep spiders away. Nonsense, but you'll see them on many a windowsill.

[Reed Gray]

Nope, not Osage. Osage, like the name is much more orange. The yellow green color is typical of the black locust. Why they call it black locust I have no idea. Farm lore: A black locust fence post will wear out one fence post hole. Osage will wear out two. One other possible way to check it out, black locust is supposed to glow under UV light. I have seen some thorns on younger black locust, but not common on the full sized ones. I have heard there are thorns on the Osage. If you can get leaves from the tree, there is a considerable difference between the leaves. Black locust have seed pods similar to red bud. Osage have fruit that look like green brains. I have heard that they do keep varmints out of the house, and they do have a bit of a citrus smell. I have about a dozen Osage sprouts in my back yard that I got from a hedge apple from my dad's place back in Missery. Passed a bunch of them out to fellow turners.

robo hippy

[Mel Fulks]

Osage oranges are only produced on the female trees.

[robert baccus]

In the mid-1800's there was a lucrative business selling wagonloads of BO_DARC seeds to cattle men for living fences. Hence the wide distribution which was once quite small. It is kin to the mulberry and is a "lost tropical" which we have 12 or so in the US. Originally it was found on the Red river border between Texas/Oklahoma.

[Bruce Pratt]

Black locust fluorescence under UV light looks like the yellow-green color used by some emergency vehicles. Very distinctive and diagnostic.

[Jack Mincey]

I have turned a bit of Osage that was a gift from a fellow turner and a bunch that I bought. The wood pictured is Osage. Every piece I've turned, turns me and my lathe yellow. My students use to say I looked like big bird when I finished turning it. It is very yellow when first cut or turned, but does turn somewhat amber in color over time as it ages. I love to turn the stuff, just wish I had it in my area.
Jack

[Wes Ramsey]

I was so impressed with Osage orange that I named my turning biz Osage Turnings. The Osage were a warlike Indian tribe native to my area of Arkansas. Folks around here call it bois d'arc, pronouncing it "Bo Dark." The dust is florescent orange but the wood turns a beautiful golden brown with age. Tough to find a straight trunk; tends to grow gnarly and crooked, and thrives in stream beds around here. I'm waiting for someone to offer me a downed tree. :) I'll go cheerfully with chainsaw and files. Random aside: there's an old belief that the big green fruits keep spiders away. Nonsense, but you'll see them on many a windowsill.

Ben,

Nice to meet another creeker close to home! We don't have much Osage Orange over here in NCA - plenty of locust and mulberry though and I've turned quite a bit of mulberry. It is related to bodark, but the wood is quite different. Same yellow color, turns amber with age, and seems to be impervious to bugs and rot, but it is lightweight and a pleasure to turn. On top of that, green mulberry is my favorite smoking wood for birds and ribs. It is similar to apple, but easier to come by around here. I bet osage orange would also give a good smoke.

[Ben Pierce]

Interesting, Wes! Bunch of mulberrys on my property; I might need to try them for meat smoking. I've stuck with oak and pecan, mostly.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

The wood is not Osage Orange, Osage Orange is called Orange for what it looks like, I have a couple of picture here of Osage Orange, you can see the bark color also the inner bark color, besides that I have a picture of Mulberry, you can compare the bark color of that to the Osage Orange bark, and you be the judge of what you would call Orange, also a picture of Black Locust, compares well with the OP picture, so my vote is for Black Locust.

like Reed says Osage is much more Orange.

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[William Bachtel]

I agree with Reed , Black Locust again. Not bright enough yellow for it to be Osage.

[Morey St. Denis]

Believe you'd do well to heed Leo's experience. Could the color response of your camera really be that lousy, especially considering how vivid green your grass appears to show? Inexperienced country woodcutters have been known to make the occasional mistake... Both trees are typical fence-row and wind-break types prevalent in your area, they could well be cutting both at this location. Why the reluctance to conduct even one of those straightforward verification tests? You report you've already been green turning it into bowls. Just submerge and soak several handfuls of those shavings in a pot of water overnight. If the water turns a noticeable yellow / amber color, you've indeed got Osage, as it will readily leach its colorants. If not, take another bag of those shavings to someone who has a blacklight, perhaps even an outdoor electric bug-zapper. It's a fairly conclusive scientific method; let's get with the program!

[Bill Boehme]

.... Random aside: there's an old belief that the big green fruits keep spiders away. Nonsense, but you'll see them on many a windowsill.

Maybe not spiders, but they will definitely keep werewolves away. I haven't seen a werewolf since putting one of those sticky green fruit balls on my window sill. :D