If a tree could have a beer belly then this Osage Orange tree would be it. Check where the pith is at.
Tree with a Beer Belly
- Thread starter Karl_TN
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Wow. That certainly is bulbous....Is that yours now Karl?
Big branch? Chuck
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- #4
Picked it up along with some cherry and persimmon wood in a brush pile last night at a farmer's house not took far from my house.
Bet that wood is under a lot of internal stress as it was growing at a severe angle to the ground. Worst I've seen.
I like the pith being way at the farther end as oppose to being centered- more yield I would imagine when milling. You should also yield wider lumber at the wider part on this pear shape log.
Karl is the other end the same as far as pith location? What are the dimensions?
I am curious how members here would resaw this to get the most out of it. My initial take is to saw it across it’s widest part to get wider material and get quarter sawn cut at the middle, with the rest being on material being rift-flat.
Karl is the other end the same as far as pith location? What are the dimensions?
I am curious how members here would resaw this to get the most out of it. My initial take is to saw it across it’s widest part to get wider material and get quarter sawn cut at the middle, with the rest being on material being rift-flat.
Arn, my view is that no matter how it is cut, the boards will twist like a pretzel. Most likely, the stress in the wood will lock the spinning blade like a vice as soon as you cut into it. Karl will tell us if I'm right or wrong, I hope. Osage orange is notorious for being a hard wood to mill, even when it grew perfectly straight with the pith centered.
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- #8
I cut most logs to around 1 to 2 foot sections for woodturning blanks, and to help keep the weight down when I'm loading them by myself. I'm guessing this log section is probably 12" to 18" wide by 2ft long with the pith in the same location on both ends. I haven't really looked over the small load of wood yet except to get this picture. My first order of business will be to unload my trailer so I get back over to those brush piles soon before the farmers starts burning them. Hope to get enough wood to put some up for sell or trade on WB.
@FranklinWorkshops , @Arn213, I'm guessing the bark got damage on the short side only letting the wider side to grow. Not anticipating any problems with twisting grain, but a little twist might look cool. I think the first two cuts on this log will probably be cookies since it's so unusually one sided. The wet Osage Orange was easy to cut my chainsaw so I'm not expecting any problems.
Sure be nice if someone discovered a way to keep Osage bright yellow instead of turning golden brown (not than golden brown is bad mind you). Do we have any chemist on WB?
Hope you're right, Karl. Good luck with it. I went on line and found these pieces of advice for sawing wood with an 0ff-center pith. This is from WoodWeb.com
From Professor Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
Off-center pith in softwoods is an excellent indicator of stress within the tree and compression wood. In hardwoods, you can have stress with or without the pith being off-center. Yet the off-center pith is unusual, so you can expect unusual wood... stress is more likely along with tensionwood. Flat lumber (after drying especially) will be a problem most of the time.
From contributor M:
When sawing off-centred logs, you have to keep the big side completely parallel to the smaller side and saw threw x threw. If tension and compression wood are included on the same board (not following my directions, i.e., cutting askew), the board will twist. If you cut at 90 degrees from my directions, the board will bow and probably split part of the way down the middle.
From Professor Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
Off-center pith in softwoods is an excellent indicator of stress within the tree and compression wood. In hardwoods, you can have stress with or without the pith being off-center. Yet the off-center pith is unusual, so you can expect unusual wood... stress is more likely along with tensionwood. Flat lumber (after drying especially) will be a problem most of the time.
From contributor M:
When sawing off-centred logs, you have to keep the big side completely parallel to the smaller side and saw threw x threw. If tension and compression wood are included on the same board (not following my directions, i.e., cutting askew), the board will twist. If you cut at 90 degrees from my directions, the board will bow and probably split part of the way down the middle.
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- #10
@FranklinWorkshops , Seems most of the cutting advice is about cutting flat boards. Luckily I'm primarily interested in short turning blanks
Here's a vase I turned from the wood. This vase turned much easier than I expected, and the grain was not twisted at all a you can see in the pics.
10"Wx6.5"H
Here's a vase I turned from the wood. This vase turned much easier than I expected, and the grain was not twisted at all a you can see in the pics.
10"Wx6.5"H
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Wow Karl. That's some great looking wood.
Nice shape on the turning also....
Nice shape on the turning also....
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- #13
I’m impressed. Very happy you had no problems with it. I assume it is still green and will need to dry for a few months before final turning?
Very cool! I have seen Osage growing fairly straight up with the pith like this. It's almost as if there is a disease on one side and the tree puts more nutrients into the other side.
Looks like it would make excellent turning blanks to me, I see a nice tall pith-free vessel blank there, nice score!
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- #17
Only had enough time last night to hollow this vase about halfway. My plan is finish the hollowing this weekend, and then carve 3 feet on the tenon. I want to avoid a final turning because I'm a little apprehensive about returning a piece of dry hard Osage.
Btw, got any tips on keeping this vase from cracking? Should I soak this vase in DNA , or put it in my freezer to let it freeze-dry a little?
Btw, got any tips on keeping this vase from cracking? Should I soak this vase in DNA , or put it in my freezer to let it freeze-dry a little?
I'm sure the real turning pros here will have good advice on avoiding cracks but I don't. In my engineering experience, freezing water causes it to expand and I'd think expanding ice within wood will cause more stress and thus cracks. That's just my opinion, of course.
Love the shape on that hollowform!
I’ve only turned a little bit of Osage to final thickness while it was green. I didn’t have much trouble with checking or cracking at about 3/8” thickness. I put a coat of finish on the pieces when finished and then set them inside a cardboard box for a few weeks... not sure it was necessary. Some of the bowls I roughed out still cracked with a heavy coat of anchorseal, so I don’t know that I’ve solved the issue of drying Osage.
I’ve only turned a little bit of Osage to final thickness while it was green. I didn’t have much trouble with checking or cracking at about 3/8” thickness. I put a coat of finish on the pieces when finished and then set them inside a cardboard box for a few weeks... not sure it was necessary. Some of the bowls I roughed out still cracked with a heavy coat of anchorseal, so I don’t know that I’ve solved the issue of drying Osage.
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- #20
I've had no problems freezing green wood between turning sessions. Actually I think freezing helps to slow down drying better than boxes, paper bags or Anchor Seal. The only problem is my wife wanting her freezer space back.
