Main Discussion Area > Bows

Osage that’s laying on the ground.

<< < (3/5) > >>

Eric Krewson:
I helped a friend cut a huge standing dead osage tree a few years ago. He split all the trunk sections by hand in 100-degree heat only to find that the wood was chalky and not usable for bows. This is the only dead osage tree I have seen that wasn't bow material.

BowEd:
I live in an area that's used osage for fence posts for decades upon decades.9 out of 10 fence lines have oasge posts.The trees grow voluntarily along fence lines here for hundreds of miles of fence line.There's a routine the local farmers do to preserve access for good straight fence posts for the future.
Cutting off trunks to let suckers grow up straight for future posts works for them.It takes 20 years but farming is a life style and passed on from generation to generation.Staples need to be put in while the post is fresh.You wait too long and they'll bend the nails.
The fellas working for local fencing companies selling posts earn their keep here.Some posts here have been in the ground for 80 years and still do there job.Occasionally a tree is standing dead but not very often.
I once had a conversation with an old farmer about him having a pond engineered on his land.He said he was going to stock the pond for his grand kids.He said he was going to put structures in the pond for the fish before it filled up with rain water.Said he was going to use osage fence posts.
I asked him jokingly "how long do you think they'll stay good under there?"He said laughingly.."oh about 50 years and then they'll turn into iron".
I have staves here from logs that were on the ground for well over a year.Bark and cambium was just falling off is all.Sapwood was shrunk down but still good.Luckily no wood wasps got to the log.

Muskyman:
How disappointing for your friend Eric. If that’s the log in your picture it looks good on the outside from what I can tell from the picture..
I knew they were used for fence posts and hedgerows BowEd. Around here as I was growing up I never knew them as anything other then hedge apple trees. When I got a little older I found out they were actually Osage orange trees and great bow wood. I used to see a lot more of them when I was younger than I do now.
After posting my question I’m feeling hopeful that this log will give me some easier to get bow wood. There are a few other trees I didn’t look at on the property. There’s one in particular that I’d like to get that’s living but might be a little tricky to cut down. I’m planning on getting a better look at it to see if I can drop it without doing any damage. If I can it’s got a nice long straight piece with no limbs at the bottom of the tree and the bark is is straight up the tree. Hoping one or both end up at my house.. might be able to go tomorrow and see what happens.

BowEd:
Osage will rival against the best amazonian wood for bow wood.

George Tsoukalas:
Pat, beautiful character bow. Jawge

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page