Osage Orange needs a good home

[Tom Keen]

My father and I visited the old farm this afternoon and I cut a little bit of osage orange. The log was 20 inches in diameter, 10 feet from the base, and had been down for at least 10 years. I took a two sections, 20 inches long. Brand new chain and I had to sharpen it after slicing up the first section. There is a larger log that looked to be 30 inches in diameter...maybe next year.

And..if anyone out there would like one of the slices and is willing to come pick it up.. let me know. They are about 18x18 and 7 inches deep at the middle.

sorry about the photo quality.. I used my phone.

Tom



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[Jude Kingery]

Hey Tom,

That's some VERY NICE Osage Orange, bo-dark, bois d'Arc. We've some here and it's great to turn, but boy are you right about sharpening your chain, chisels, ha! You almost don't even have to sand this stuff! Polishes up so nicely.

While I have more wood than I can keep up with right now, (mostly Mesquite) one suggestion might be to post it on eBay if you're so inclined. I see it every once in awhile - and it goes for a pretty decent price. Just a thought for you!

Kind regards,

Jude

[John Bush]

We cleared out many hundreds of feet of hedge rows, with most of the trunks 20"+ in dia., and it would make the old D-8 moan. We used what we could for fence posts and the rest was burnd and buried. Not much other use back then.

[Jude Kingery]

John, we can relate - one time Stuart Batty came for a demo to San Antonio and we went (great demo by the way) and he said Mesquite is considered an "exotic wood" in the U.K. He was absolutely astonished we'd grill steaks with it. I think someone gave him some nice chunks of it to take back with him to London. Interesting how we see what we don't have locally as something very nice. Tonight my husband halved a Cherry stump for me; Cherry wood here - we might get say 6" in diameter, this log I swapped out with Mesquite and it's a full 18" in diameter. Very nice! Jude

[Tom Keen]

I dont feel right trying to sell wood if anyone else can use it. It didnt cost me anything but a little time.

Dad's farm has a mile of old hedge rows planted in the late 1800's. They kept them trimmed back then, sometimes adorned with a strand of barbed wire. Apparently at some point someone raised turkeys in one of the fields and put a piece of chicken wire on one side of the hedge. There are still some old trees with wire up in their tops.. :)

I rec'd a couple of pieces of spruce recently. Its exotic to me.. Ive enjoyed it. We have so much cherry and walnut on our farm. I hate to admit getting bored with it after awhile but I do. Id be really excited if someone would like to trade for some something I cant get.

Tom

[John Bush]

I brought quite a bit of old walnut and cherry out to the PNW several years ago and I have been treating it like gold. I met a guy out here that is importing exotics from the Amazon(rain forest not .com) and I have a stash of stuff I have never even heard of. They shipped the plastic wrapped/sealed turning blacks in crates, on pallets, made of purple heart and blood wood.The boards are 5/4 to 6/4 thick and 6 to 8 " wide and 42" long. He said that these exotics to us are our alder and ash for them. I have a stack to make some indestructable adirodacks. Too heavy to steal too.

[Jude Kingery]

Hey Tom,

Makes perfect sense, personally I can also relate to that, would rather give it away or swap than sell when it's free for us taking out of our back yard literally (Mesquite). Just an idea as I'd seen it before for sale is all. Maybe you can swap it out with someone? Course the thing about that is the shipping cost. I'd be happy to give away Mesquite without a swap, some of it's good for turning, some has grub holes, some is cracked to be no good but for grilling.

Anybody know of a cheap way to ship wood? That'd be the ticket!

Kind regards,

Jude

[Dick Strauss]

Tom,
It is very generous of you to offer what sounds like very nice OO wood. I wish I lived a little closer but with the price of gas and 150+miles each way, I'd be crazy to make the drive unless I got a whole carload full of wood. You may want to check with the local Columbus turners group to see about a wood swap or giveaway.

www.centralohiowoodturners.org (http://www.centralohiowoodturners.org)

Good luck,
Dick

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Tom, I may be interested. Are you willing to do a trade:confused: I will be traveling through Ohio the latter part of July. I'd love to meet you and I may be able to swing by on my way to Ravenna.:)

[Terry Quiram]

Anybody know of a cheap way to ship wood? That'd be the ticket!

Kind regards,

Jude


Wrap it in newspaper and ship it as printed material;) :D

Terry

[Tom Keen]

I sure would be interested... I'll load you up with a trunk full of walnut, cherry, and osage orange.. :)

We are about 45 min from Dayton or Columbus depending on the way you are traveling..

I will PM you.

woo woo... now.. what kind of wood grows in Texas?? :)

Tom

[Jim Underwood]

Cheapest way I know to ship wood is in the USPS flat rate boxes. Over on another forum that's the way we do wood swaps.

Of course if someone you know is flying or driving to your place, that's pretty cheap too.:D

[Jude Kingery]

Hey Tom,

Our local wood that's best for turning is Mesquite (then you use the chips on the grill!) We do have some Osage Orange here to the north of us as well, but not as big in diameter as some of your pieces there. Glad you might be able to do a swap! That's outstanding! Jude

[Joe Tonich]

Tom, I may be interested. Are you willing to do a trade:confused: I will be traveling through Ohio the latter part of July. I'd love to meet you and I may be able to swing by on my way to Ravenna.:)

Man, Chris, where ya going in Ravenna? I used to camp at Hidden Valley Camp Ground most weekends during the summer when I was a kid.

Tom...sure wish ya lived closer.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Cool!:eek: ya know where the Blackhorse Tavern is on route 5 :confused: , just up the street from there. I actually lived in Ravenna with my grandparents for a short period of time whenwas 7 or 8 years old. Joe, was that the camp going the back way into Kent:confused:
Man, Chris, where ya going in Ravenna? I used to camp at Hidden Valley Camp Ground most weekends during the summer when I was a kid.

Tom...sure wish ya lived closer.

[Joe Tonich]

Cool!:eek: ya know where the Blackhorse Tavern is on route 5 :confused: , just up the street from there. I actually lived in Ravenna with my grandparents for a short period of time whenwas 7 or 8 years old. Joe, was that the camp going the back way into Kent:confused:

It's off Rt 14....just past the Lake Rockwell causeway headin south (or East). Turned down Dawley to Doaks. Don't remember the BlackHorse, the Eagle Club was the place to go for cheap drinkin.

[Colin MacDiarmid]

Just read your article over here for a piece 6"x6" x2"thick it costs $30.07 and that doesnot include shipping costs, wish you boys were a bit closer then you could chuck us a bit, excuse the pun