Drying green cuts for handles

[Robison Blades]

I have a couple of cuts of bodark off a friends tree and I was looking for info on drying. I know how to go about drying and about building a drying box if I need one but what I don't know is how I should treat the wood. Should I strip the bark leaving the sap wood or should I strip it down to the heart wood. Waxing the ends seems like a good idea but they already have some checking started from cutting so I don't know if that would be of much benefit. If some could lay out the process from cut to dry for me that would be great.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Sweany]

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/fea.asp?id=1263


http://www.woodturningplus.com/boiling_dry.htm

 

[Sweany]

another way to handle osage orange is to put some clamps on the ends hose clamps or twisted wire and rub it down with vegatable oil every day for 30 days

ever other day for the next 30 days
and then

twice a week for 30 days

 

[cwhittington]

I have dried a lot of osage for bows, and you can leave the bark on or take the bark and the sap wood off- but you don't want to take the bark off and leave the sapwood. If you do, chances are splits will open up in the sap and carry through to the heartwood. I would seal the ends because the splits will continue as it dries- I use white glue and it works great and is cheap and easy. When cutting osage, I take a bottle of glue with me and seal the ends first thing because osage starts splitting even before it hits the ground (at least the bigger pieces do).

 

[mete]

Bodark ? ,oh osage orange as in bois d'arc !!! [maclura pomifera ].

 

[Mike Hull]

Here's a couple more ways.


http://woodworkersworld.homestead.com/fall_2002_p1.html

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~rhaslip/Rex/workshop/microwave/microwav.htm

 

[Sweany]

cwhittington, thanks
You are right about splitting before it hits the ground.

 

[R. Mark Lee]

I have made quite a few bows out of osage as well and I agree with everything cwhittington says. If you’re looking to make handle material you can rough cut the wood into pieces slightly larger than what you want the handle material to be, once in this state it should come to moisture equilibrium with its surroundings in a few days. A stated above do not leave the white sap wood on the heart wood or the wood will split. Having said that, you may be able to leave a thin layer of sap wood on the roughed out handle blanks and they may survive. I would try a couple of sample blanks first to see how they dry. Osage has a tendency to twist when it dries in bow length pieces, however, for knife blank sizes chunks I don't think you'll see much movement.

Mark