Two takes with Osage Orange

Jeff Bower

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DSM, IA
These are 2 sides of the same log I got from my dad a few months ago. Each are 10" wide and 5" tall.

The first has more pith in it and created sunburst like design. I finished it with 5 coats of rattle can laquer, still needs to be buffed out.

The second didn't have the sunburst so I scorched and then wire brushed the top which is a little thicker as well. Finish is just watco danish oil.

Critiques/Comments encouraged. (I know many don't like the think ones, but I've had good sales succes with them lately.)
 

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Thick/thin, matter of taste. I'll bet going through that knot was tough. Personally, I would have softened the edges some and maybe put an burn ring on top of the first bowl to break up the big, plain, area.
 
Frank and Darren, The knot wasn't that tough at all. The blank was pretty wet still. It was sealed within minutes of being cut and got my faceshield nice and wet while turning.
 
The thick wall certainly makes for an interesting look. It somehow reminds me of one of those mini Civil War cannons (mortars?) or a catcher's mitt, or a bird's nest.

Nice twist ... calling the pith a "sunburst design". ;) The other bowls probably end up like Sneetches, all wishing that they had "stars upon thars" too. :D
 
I like the sunburst on the first one, and the burned and brushed rim on the second one is cool, too.

Critique-wise, I think I'd like to see the outside curve of the bowls more closely match the inside curve. Particularly on the first bowl, the inside is a nice, hemispherical shape, but the outside has more of a straight side, curving quickly to the foot. If the outside curve was a continuous radius from the outside rim to the foot, I think it would tie things together better visually. (One person's opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it.) ;)

Pith is the rings going out from the center right? Like the center of the log?
The pith is the center of a series of rings. You'll see it in the main trunk, and also in the middle of branches/knots. For reasons I don't know, the pith is often the first place a piece of wood will begin to crack and split, so in general, turners try to avoid having pith in their turning blanks. There are times though, like the first bowl here, when the pith can be used to a visual advantage.
 
Thanks for the critque Vaughn. I agree with you on the outside curve...I have the pic you gave me explaining this some time ago above the lathe...maybe I should look at it more often....:eek: Oh well, there's always the next bowl! :D
 
I like the sunburst on the first one, and the burned and brushed rim on the second one is cool, too.

Critique-wise, I think I'd like to see the outside curve of the bowls more closely match the inside curve. Particularly on the first bowl, the inside is a nice, hemispherical shape, but the outside has more of a straight side, curving quickly to the foot. If the outside curve was a continuous radius from the outside rim to the foot, I think it would tie things together better visually. (One person's opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it.) ;)


The pith is the center of a series of rings. You'll see it in the main trunk, and also in the middle of branches/knots. For reasons I don't know, the pith is often the first place a piece of wood will begin to crack and split, so in general, turners try to avoid having pith in their turning blanks. There are times though, like the first bowl here, when the pith can be used to a visual advantage.


While Vaughn is certainly correct in what he says about pith being soft....generally, it is not the case with Osage Orange. I have a large stack of OO in the garage and have worked quite a bit of the stuff. The center, or pith, part is, for practical purposes, just as hard as the heart wood. I don't make any effort to avoid the center. It only adds character to a finished piece.
 
Since there has been some discussion on how to stop osage orange from darkening, I thought I'd post a follow up pic of these 2.

Just packed these up for my first show this weekend...the color has changed quite a bit since first turning them. Much darker. I'm hope to sell them as a set, but if someone wants just one, I'm pretty sure I will say yes. :)
 

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Jeff, I've got a couple pieces made from osage orange in my current stock, and one is about a year older than the other. You can really see the difference between the two. (And the bottom of the older one is still brigh yellow, since it has seen very little light.)

While Vaughn is certainly correct in what he says about pith being soft....generally, it is not the case with Osage Orange. I have a large stack of OO in the garage and have worked quite a bit of the stuff. The center, or pith, part is, for practical purposes, just as hard as the heart wood. I don't make any effort to avoid the center. It only adds character to a finished piece.
I wasn't really saying the pith was any softer...just that it's the place where most splitting and cracking starts in a piece of wood. It varies from species to species, and it sounds like with OO it's not really a problem. (I also like the way knots/pith look in a piece.)
 
Jeff, I've got a couple pieces made from osage orange in my current stock, and one is about a year older than the other. You can really see the difference between the two. (And the bottom of the older one is still brigh yellow, since it has seen very little light.)


I wasn't really saying the pith was any softer...just that it's the place where most splitting and cracking starts in a piece of wood. It varies from species to species, and it sounds like with OO it's not really a problem. (I also like the way knots/pith look in a piece.)



OO has a mind of it's own. Larger log sections do need to be split in half or they will check badly. Smaller pieces, with ends coated may, or may not, split. Turned like Jeff did is a wait and see thing.
 
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