How To Osage Orange hawk handle finishing

I am bleeding

I am bleeding

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I am not a maker, I am a tinkerer. Hope it’s ok to post here, if not please take down. I have a nice piece of Osage that is now dry, profiled, shaped, and sanded to 800 grit. Ready to go with excellent fit up to an existing head I have. The Osage is unfinished and I am thinking of searing it with a handheld propane torch to add some interest and faux age. I’ve done this before on knife handle scales, came out ok, I over did it in spots and had to sand to correct. I think it’s kind of tricky to get this right and would be thankful for any suggestions. I’ll finish it with coats of Casey tru oil. I like Osage and how it changes darker over time, and it’s toughness is good for a hard use tool.
Sorry for long post.
I also had this wild thought to try a aquafortis treatment on it instead of searing. I know it’s not curly, and aquafortis is traditionally use on curly maple, I have used it on curly eucalyptus with awesome results. Am I an idiot for thinking it might work well on Osage?
 
Just my opinion-
Burning any handle material looks just like "you burned it." Burning is not a natural finish and it always shows as such.
 
I agree with Bill, which is why I suggested a test piece.
Selective staining to get a variation of color might be a better alternative. Also, remember that Osage orange will change color as it ages. It will eventually turn walnut brown. I don't know how much the True-oil will slow that down.
 
Here is unseared on a older user that I like to say is aging gracefully. This is the nicest Osage I personally have ever seen. Has that chatoyant thing going on. I am on the love it side of the Osage love or hate thing.

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I sometimes burn my toast and it ends up in the garbage. Perhaps any “toasting” of the wood will be considered garbage by many. I happen to like it if done nicely. Like the hawk handle first pic above. I don’t see much burn. Looks natural to me. Pretty uniform without many hotspots, skillfully done. The knife I agree with you Bill, burn. I own these, but it’s not my handiwork. Would like to do it myself and do it well, appreciate advice from anyone who knows.
 
I would be more inclined to look into a slab with better figure. Osage Orange is not a highly figured wood in general, but with a bit of looking you may find some better grain which is more to your liking. It will improve with age, but that may not be how it looks at first & you may run out of time while waiting for things to change. I enjoy it for the toughness, stability, hardness & overall strength. It's one of the the hardest & most dense North American hardwoods I know of, up there with Ironwood, but also has the least figure & grain variation. I sand it & use Truoil for the finish & it seems to work well enough as it is, but I'm more into function than form in woods.

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If you want hard, dense & beautiful grain, try some Bocote for fun.

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I like Osage orange, I sand to 1500 and buff it and it almost has a 3D look in the grain. I haven't been making knives long enough for any of my handles to darken up yet, but I'm not a huge fan of the burned look.
 
I haven't tried it on Osage orange, but some light woods will gain some color and character by buffing hard. You have to use just the right amount of pressure to get it to darken and bring out the lines, but not so hard you get burned spots.
 
I wonder how a light burn and just a wax and buff might look. The wood is dense enough that it really doesn't need a hard finish.
 
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