Ever jeard of Orange Sage wood?

blgoode

blgoode

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
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I got a piece from my Grandmother today. She called it Orange sage. It has been cut into a piece 2x8x3/4 for 1 year. Is this good handle material?
 
The wood is called Osage Orange. It's also known
as Bois D'Arc. It's native to the U.S. Commonly found
in Arkansas,Louisiana, and other states in that area.

I've used it a couple of times for a bowie handle
and a hunting knife. A nice piece of heartwood is very
beautiful, with a deep, almost transluscent yellow color
with a beautiful grain. It's also very hard and tough,
although its not particularly heavy, and is rather
open grained. Many traditional bow makers have used it
in self-bows, it's that tough.

The main problem that I saw with it was grain filling
and color change. In order to properly fill the grain you
have to wet sand with the finish, just as with a walnut
gunstock, which is time consuming. Once filled and polished
it takes a beautiful sheen. The other problem is that as it
is exposed to sun it gradually chages to a light brown colour
which is still pretty nice. I plan on using the waterlox
tung oil finish that has a UV shield in it if I use it again.
 
Wow. I have a handle material cut from my old uncles tree!

How long until I should use it? My Grandmother told me it was cut a year or more ago? I'll have to learn how to fill the grain. Where can I find info on that?

Thanks for responding!
 
A year after cut into that size should normally
be plenty, but how long it takes for a wood to dry
properly depends on the wood and how damp the climate.
It's probably ok now.

See my post in the link about walnut burl on this
same page for general advice. There is also good
basic advice at WWW.Riflestocks.Tripod.com.

Still,like I said in the other post, I think
that is a lot of time and trouble for a knife handle.
There are other, quicker ways. Do a search under
wood finishing.
 
I really love Osage. Lately I have been using the ceramic fixer spray that TKS sells, spray it on till it runs, let it dry and the buff it off. The follow with a couple coats of wax. I used this process on my handles about 10 years ago and forgot about it till recently. It really works well.

Here is a pic of and Osage handle

osagefighter.jpg
 
Nice knife!! I'll check out the ceramic fixer spray.
Thnks for the info!!!
 
If you serach in the Himalayan Imports forum, over under Makers and Manufacturers, we've had several discussions of Osage Orange with lots of good information coming up in the process.
 
Osage is very tough and makes a great knife handle (read: very stable). Starts out yellow and darkens with time/exposure/use. How large (diameter) is your piece? If you're lucky, the heartwood will be dark and add some contrast. Be careful - might be soft/pithy too and you'll definitely want to cut that off.

I've only ever needed to buff and lightly oil (wipe on, wipe off) with the Osage I've used.


Greg - how does that ceramic spray work? Is it a hardened topcoat? or does it penetrate? Is it clear?
 
Originally posted by XRAYED
I really love Osage. Lately I have been using the ceramic fixer spray that TKS sells, spray it on till it runs, let it dry and the buff it off.
Click to expand...


Unfortunately, TKS quit selling that a couple of years ago. I think the manufacturer quit making it(?).

Something that will work about the same, is Minwax sanding sealer. Spread on a couple of thick coats, dry it with a heat gun, or hair dryer, takes about a minute that way, and buff like you would the spray from TKS, IE: across the grain. :)
 
Mike - is that with or without a compound?
 
TKS now sells another fixer called Garoseal (or something like that) and it works just as well.

I buff on a soft wheel with white rouge and then switch to pink no scratch.
 
Originally posted by pendentive


Greg - how does that ceramic spray work? Is it a hardened topcoat? or does it penetrate? Is it clear?
Click to expand...

It gets down into the wood very well. Just the other day I made a hunter with a tiger maple handle and decided to leave it natural with no stain. I sanded it out to 320 and then steel wool, then coated it with the spray. It took several heavy coats because the wood was soaking it up. When you buff it, it starts to smear all over and it looks like you really messed it up. Just keep buffing till the finish clears and then go to pink no scratch rouge and then a coat or two of wood wax.

I did a snakewood handle on a heavy use knife years ago and it still looks great after all this time.

Here is the maple handled hunter:
damhunter.jpg
 
Mike - sorry about the confusion - I meant at the buffing wheel...


Greg - sounds like just what I need. I'll check it out. Thanks for the tips.

White compound (matchless) scares me every time I use. It starts out by filling up every little grain pore and then over time and on the soft corner of a cloth wheel, it comes off. I usually have to spend a minute or two cleaning it out of the handle with mineral spirits and a toothbrush. Even worse with antler handles...

Hope this solves the problem I'm having. (I don't really mind cleaning it up, but I'm concerned I might miss a spot and a leave gray in the grain.)

Dan
 
I believe this wood may be recognized for at least one other name other than osage orange, bois d'arc (we pronounce it bo-dark) in these parts. I believe it is the same as what they call "hedge" in Missouri and the surrounding region.

A buddy of mine gave me a fence post that was put in the ground about 40 years ago in northern Mississippi. It is some of the nicest aged bodark I have come across. A lot of fence post in certain parts of the country are of this wood.

Some folks will scorch bodark with a torch to get a brown hue in the wood. This fence post has it naturally. Really nice as far as bodark is concerned.


Craig
 
Also called Hedge. Those big ole hedge apples are fun to throw at people. :D
 
Originally posted by XRAYED
TKS now sells another fixer called Garoseal (or something like that) and it works just as well.

Click to expand...


Glad to hear it. Thanks for the info.:D
 
I only have a small piece of this wood and it does have the dark wood in it. I guess this is the pattern for this type of wood. It has a nice repetitive arrow shape that I would put down the center of a med hunter. How can I tell if its too soft? Finger nail??
 
Osage Orange is a really tough & rot-resistant wood; great for handles. I got some scraps at a local hardwood place & used some on a rather crude puukko handle a while ago. One thing I learned in the process is that this stuff is so hard a drill bit will drift with the grain, so be sure your tools are sharp (not a problem in this forum, I'm sure!)

Best wishes for a happy, peaceful, & prosperous 2004.

Andrew
 
I cut and dry my own osage, known in this area as "hedge". It is one of the most common woods here. I have used some worm eaten (wormy) that came from an old fencepost, and it was beautiful stuff. The osage takes about any finish you can come up with, too. I have even used boiled linseed oil on one customer's knife, at the owner's request. I cut crooked and gnarly stuff to get character grain. One good thing about osage, you can use knotty wood and the knots won't loosen, beleive it or not. The knots really add beauty to a piece of osage on a knife handle. Most of the knives I made in the early and mid 90's had osage handles. Another thing about osage, it is easy to dry at home without worrying about checking of the wood. It must be because the grain is so tight. I just toss cut and whole pieces in a dry drawer in my shop and forget the wood until it is dry and ready to use. You are going to need a carbide table saw blade to cut dry osage, but the green, fresh cut stuff cuts easily with a common blade. The osage turns great on a lathe,too.
 
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