Can Osage orange be stabilized?

[Dmitry5]

Seems pretty oily wood to me. Have people had success stabilizing it?

 

[A.McPherson]

Can it? Yes.
Does it need it? No.

Osage orange is used for fence posts here in some parts of TX, they are left, untreated in the ground for 50-100 years before being replaced... It's pretty tough stuff.

If you want a really expert opinion, call K&G
Here's their number: 1-800-972-1192. They won't stear you wrong!

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

We stabilized large quantities of osage when we sold wood. It stabilizes well. K&G processed the wood.

Chuck

 

[Dmitry5]

thanks guys, I found an unexpected grove of it near my house. Not too thick of cross-sections and some are quite cracked. I will have to try stabilizing it and see what happens.

 

[jtwodogs]

Not a master by any means, but have worked with hedge apple or osage for many years, have made self bows that are many years old and are still functional. Used it for handles before and seems to be very durable in an untreated state.

 

[Horsewright]

We stabilized large quantities of osage when we sold wood. It stabilizes well. K&G processed the wood.

Chuck

Chuck what was the benefit in stabilization for this wood?

 

[Natlek]

Benefits are that they make plastic from nice wood ?

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Chuck what was the benefit in stabilization for this wood?

Sales. We offered both natural and stabilized osage. The stabilized sold much better.

The only performance advantage of stabilizing might have been the strict drying procedure we used before sending it out to be stabilized. If a block went all the way through the drying process and did not crack, we never had any problems with it. Thinking about it now, the stabilized blocks were probably faster for the knifemaker to finish.

Chuck

 

[Horsewright]

Sales. We offered both natural and stabilized osage. The stabilized sold much better.

The only performance advantage of stabilizing might have been the strict drying procedure we used before sending it out to be stabilized. If a block went all the way through the drying process and did not crack, we never had any problems with it. Thinking about it now, the stabilized blocks were probably faster for the knifemaker to finish.

Chuck

Thanks Chuck

I’ve got a whole box of the stuff and it’s years old, so I know what you’re saying about the cracks. I finish it and stabilized wood bout the same so no benny for me I guess.