Why do People Burn Osage Orange?

[redsquid2]

Is it for looks, or does it seal the wood grain or is it something else?

 

[Kloepper Knife Works]

I'm not sure I follow. Are you talking about the fact that some is brown and some is orange? If so, it's because it turns brown with age as tanins are brought to the surface of unstabilized woods that contain high amounts of tanins. The same thing happens to oak, locust, etc.

If your actually talking about hitting the wood with a flame, I've got nothing.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

It starts off an orange that is not everybody's cup of tea, but turns a nice rich brown in time. Heating it accelerates the color change.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

I actually thought you were asking why people would burn Osage Orange for heat; I live in wood burning Appalachia and can tell you its highly sought after because of its phenomenal BTU rating. Its one of the very best woods to burn for heating your house.

Irrelevant but factual, Fred

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

^ if you burn Osage Orange, you will go to hell.

... just saying...

 

[Fred.Rowe]

^ if you burn Osage Orange, you will go to hell.

... just saying...

Old wives tale, me thinks. ha! ha!

 

[Salolan]

Maybe that's because it burns hot as hell... a good 5 million btu more per cord than any other wood in these parts.

Chris

 

[BenR.T.]

^ if you burn Osage Orange, you will go to hell.

... just saying...

^this.

But to answer your question, it looks cooler when it has been torched a bit.

 

[chopchop]

I think some folks feel like the osage by itself is too plain.

I've owned both versions, and I tend to favor the non-torched osage. I like the way it ages.

 

[redsquid2]

sorry for not being clear. i was talking about the flame carefully applied to knife scales. i have often seen it in a striped pattern. t.y. for the replies.

i have read that osage orange resists the elements like nothing else.

 

[Salolan]

i have read that osage orange resists the elements like nothing else.

This is why it is the first choice for fence posts. In many cases the posts can last 100 to 120 years, maybe even longer.

Chris

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

sorry for not being clear. i was talking about the flame carefully applied to knife scales. i have often seen it in a striped pattern. t.y. for the replies.

i have read that osage orange resists the elements like nothing else.

I've run it through the dishwasher.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Funny story about osage orange.

When I bought a lot of stuff from Bill Moran's shop and estate, I purchased a box of cut out handle profiles. Some were for knives, and others were ones that he used to mark wood for cutting out the blanks. Most were in really nice curly woods, and had info on them about the size, knife type, and other notes. There was a set of three sizes of ST-24 type handles in a really nice deep brown color. They were marked large, medium, and small, and the large one had " ST-24 walnut" on it. I assumed that it was walnut. I decided to put it on a ST-24 blade I purchased. As soon as I hit it with a drill bit to make a tang hole, I knew the real wood type....osage orange. The wood had sat around so long it was deep walnut brown color. I guess Bill had made a note to cut some walnut handle blanks. He had a lot of osage orange around...much of it for bow making.