A good day in one picture.

Jackrabbit1957 said:

It's loads of laughs to work with. Rotary tools and files are the best bet on shaping it. Really sharp chisels are a necessity as well. The grain changes direction a lot so using a plane or spokeshave doesn't work well. Another fun part is sand in the grain, if the tree was growing in a wash bed or river bottom you most likely will find sand in the grain.I've personally seen a rock the size of a baseball come out of an old growth Mesquite as well as nails and pieces of wire.

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At least it isn't Bodark.

That is really cool, thank you for sharing.

armoredman said:

Except this is WAY easier to reload than a revolver with far few moving parts.

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Truth, as much as I like revolvers, the single shot pistola has some advantages. Besides being more powerful in any caliber, and having FAR less parts to go astray or break, they are fast to reload. I sometimes wonder if a guy (or gal) who was good at speed-loading their single shot, couldn't get six shots off before the revolver was loaded and fired, if they first started out with unloaded pistols. ??? Or not...with cartridges and a capper, and revolver can be loaded pretty fast. Using a capper and my paper cartridges, I can keep up a pretty good rate of fire.

That would be a pretty fun contest I think.

entropy said:

At least it isn't Bodark.

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Hey now! Bois d’arc is easily worked! SHARP tools are a must but it’s density is also what makes it so machinable… plus for the fellow wandering around in Grizzly country it makes a damn fine club as a very last resort!

That’s a dandy!

woodnbow said:

Hey now! Bois d’arc is easily worked! SHARP tools are a must but it’s density is also what makes it so machinable… plus for the fellow wandering around in Grizzly country it makes a damn fine club as a very last resort!

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Bois d' arc, hedge apple, horse apple, osage orange, bodock whatever you want to call it splits and shrinks as it dries. It is extremely hard so good luck on keeping tools sharp.

I ruined three chains trying to take one down once!

To say the least of causing some health issues from the sawdust such as skin rashes and major respiratory problems. I have never worked with it but was warned about it when I went to Colorado School of Trades.

hawg said:

Bois d' arc, hedge apple, horse apple, osage orange, bodock whatever you want to call it splits and shrinks as it dries. It is extremely hard so good luck on keeping tools sharp.

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Oh yeah, seal the ends of staves and lumber and you’ll control the checking and splitting…. if you require a hard heavy wood that’s dimensionally stable it’s hard to beat. A dedicated sharpening station is a must for any shop and it makes the task easier and actually enjoyable. It’s an interesting and useful species.
@Jackrabbit1957 I’ve never experienced this from osage but I don’t sand it much or all that often. Finishing is accomplished with scrapers and boning tools for the most part. I react strongly to some species of oak, and pacific yew is the worst. I’ve tillered a few Yew bows and thought I had come down with the mother of all head colds. No more thank you.

I expect everyone is gonna react differently, my step brother has made many pieces of furniture from Mesquite, now he is allergic to it. Gives him a real bad time if exposed to the sawdust.

entropy said:

I ruined three chains trying to take one down once!

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Ruined some chains with it myself.

hawg said:

Bois d' arc, hedge apple, horse apple, osage orange, bodock whatever you want to call it splits and shrinks as it dries. It is extremely hard so good luck on keeping tools sharp.

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Horse Apple??? I thought horse apples were soft and mushy. ??

woodnbow said:

I’ve never experienced this from osage but I don’t sand it much or all that often.

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Right, I've made three bows out of osage, and you don't sand them much. Certainly not with any power tool. Dang, two of them broke, but the best one has lasted about 40 years now.

Ugly Sauce said:

Horse Apple??? I thought horse apples were soft and mushy. ??

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Nah, you're thinking of road apples.

hawg said:

Nah, you're thinking of road apples.

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Truth. My dad always called them horse apples. He's tease us little kids: "would you like some horse apples for lunch"? We'd be like: "yeah, what are those?" !!!!!!

Ugly Sauce said:

Truth. My dad always called them horse apples. He's tease us little kids: "would you like some horse apples for lunch"? We'd be like: "yeah, what are those?" !!!!!!

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I never heard it called that. I guess we have to many Bois D'arc trees here and we always called them horse apples.

hawg said:

I never heard it called that. I guess we have to many Bois D'arc trees here and we always called them horse apples.

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For sure. I've never heard of a Bois D'arc tree, wouldn't know one if I fell out of it!!! Or it fell one me.

Bois D'arc is the proper spelling of bodock or bodark however you want to say it.

Jackrabbit1957 said:

I expect everyone is gonna react differently, my step brother has made many pieces of furniture from Mesquite, now he is allergic to it. Gives him a real bad time if exposed to the sawdust.

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I've actually gotten a little sensitive to maple. It won't kill me or anything, but sanding it without a mask will make my sinuses pretty unhappy for a couple of days.

I wouldn't know a mesquite or a palo verde if they walked up and kicked me in the teeth. A cactus I might be able to identify.

Mesquite and cactus I saw plenty of when I lived in Texas, which is were I eventually managed to cut down that Bois D'Arc. ( BTW, when I pronounced it correctly the Texans didn't know WTH I was saying, so I had to use 'bodark' )
Palo Verde is one I only saw down south of Alpine, where my Dad lives.

Ugly Sauce said:

Right, I've made three bows out of osage, and you don't sand them much. Certainly not with any power tool. Dang, two of them broke, but the best one has lasted about 40 years now.

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If you get a continuous ring on the back and the bow is long enough for the draw weight and length it’s hard to break them. I usually design wide flatbows with stiff outer limbs which are extremely deep and narrow don’t really bend at all. Osage orange is the best possible wood for this type of bow.

entropy said:

when I pronounced it correctly the Texans didn't know WTH I was saying, so I had to use 'bodark' )

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Correctly it's pronounced bwah dark. In English it's bodark. My neck of the MS woods it's bodock. Or more commonly horse apple. When I first read Osage orange I had to look it up.