Milling Osage Orange for Bows

[Tom]

If you do it, I want to know.  I'll take a picture and put it on the web alongside of that little compact car with the stack of plywood on top and the back filled with concrete blocks and cement that collapsed in the Home Despot parking lot.  :D :D

[WDH]

I would fit right in on the Selma, AL to Meridian, MS highway ;D.

Like Ray Stevens said in the haircut song......they would think that I was an insurance salesman  :D.

[Radar67]

they would think that I was an insurance salesman  :D.

With a battering ram.... :D :D :D :D

[Don K]

Sadly, I must say that I would have to impose highway duties on such odd looking form of conveyance as it passed through Alabama. I think a nice straight osage log should cover the toll. ;D   I too have catfish and would gladly give you some  before sending you on your way.

Don

[Dodgy Loner]

Danny, I've got some 6-foot riven hickory staves that have been drying for more than a year.  If you want to try making a bow, you're welcome to have a couple of them.  I just use them for tool handles.

[TexasTimbers]

Drive to Radar67's house    $(320)
Buy catfish supper              $(30)

Sell log                               $95

Net Profit                         $(255)

Dubya have you been teaching economics to our government and banking officials. ? :D

[WDH]

Maybe I can become a Government Consultant ;D. 

Dodgy, not sure I need another hobby .

Don, as I came through Thomasville, you would pull me over and say, "You in a heap of trouble, boy."

[Dodgy Loner]

Naw, same hobby.  Bowmaking is woodworking! ;)

[urbanlumberinc]

I got my hands on some sweet Osage yesterday.  This baby was the Colorado state Champion till it got in the way of a parking garage.  All together I got the butt log and crotch from it, and four more logs of slightly smaller diameter, along with two rootballs. 
Anyone have a good idea about how I oughta cut this stuff up to get best value.  By the ring count the champ was 118 years old.  IMG] https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13730/PA314042_4.jpg [/IMG]

[TexasTimbers]

I am surprised to hear that the state champ is only 118 years old I think that cannot be correct.

[Kansas]

It wouldn't suprise me at all that that is about the right age. I dont believe osage orange was native west of missouri prior to the settlers in the 1800's. It was promoted by the government as windbreak material, also firewood and as a natural fence. Im not sure it was introduced much before the late 1800's.

[urbanlumberinc]

The state champ is the largest recorded tree of a given species, not the oldest.  Recorded is also a definitive term here, as there may well be one larger in the state, perhaps on private property somewhere, as yet undiscovered. 

[WDH]

That is an unusual log.  Really beautiful.

I sold the wood to a guy in Seattle, WA.  He will make fighting sticks out of it.  That wood is so heavy it will be costly to ship, that's for sure.

[milling man]

i would like to get my hands on a hedge apple log not to many around here the largest on i have seen here is about 7" i have heard they are pretty hard to cut is this true?

[zopi]

Wasn't it Arky who just sold a big Osage timber for 350 bucks?

Shoulda sold it in sticks fer 100 bucks a pop...<GRIN>

[SwampDonkey]

Congratulations on selling your log. You couldn't get much further away unless you was to send it to Alaska or Hawaii. :D :D

[WDH]

Ain't that the truth ;D.  Hey, the shipping companies have to have something to do .