Wood Score

I got the Cedar (on the trailer) and the Bois d' Arc (with ends painted gray) from a couple of coworkers. I'll have the Cedar sawn up into 4/4 planks for,,,ssshhhhh flat work...and the Bois d' Arc will become turning stock.

Judging by past hauls, I'll get about 400 bf of Cedar. The logs are ugly but the milled stock will be a beautiful deep red and cream. I've got orders for three Cedar blanket chests so it will be used as soon as it's dry. Since the logs are over a year old, I'm thinking about 6 months air drying and it will be ready. Cedar is pretty dry when cut down compared to other woods.

I've also got some black leather lacing that I'm gonna try out on a Bois d' Arc bowl. i think it will look great against the bright yellow wood and even against the later orangy color it turns.

Life is good and friends with trees make it better!

Congratulations! Looks like a great haul! errrr.... what's flat work?

Yeah, I'd say you scored. Now the work begins, huh? Congrats.

Cody,

Sounds like there will be some really nice blanket chests. As for the Bois d' Arc, I never new the wood was that color. We've got some trees on the back of my mom's property and obviously the "horse apples" (or at least what they're called down here) around. How does the Bois d' Arc wood turn and finish?

Thanks,

Lee,

Bois d' Arc turns wonderfully when green although it gets mighty hard when dry. It also finishes beautifully because of that hardness. With fine sanding, it hardly even needs a finish. The wood has an amazing amount of chatoyance...it absolutely shimmers when the light hits it.

Can you tell I like Bois d' Arc? I'm glad to get a supply of it.

Congrats on the wood haul Cody. You ought to try and turn a piece or two of the cedar. If it is that dry it should turn nice and makes your shop smell good.

Bois d' Arc

Cody,

Thanks for the extra info on the Bois d' Arc. Now I can hardly wait until one of those trees in mom's back yard "fall".

How does it compare to Osage Orange? I've played around a little with turning some small pieces for handles and it seems to have similar characteristics to Bois d' Arc (from what I can read into it from your info).

Thanks again,

Nice score, Cody. FYI, Lee, osage & bois d'arc are the same wood. The french called it that because the transition wood between the sap & heartwood is supposed to make really good bows---very springy or something.

So I have a question; how long does it take osage to turn from yellow to orange/brown? I've turned a fair bit of mulberry, which if its in the sun at all turns very fast. Just curious. Osage & red mulberry are very similar, color and properties, so I hear, anyway. Yellow when fresh cut, turns very hard when dry, and turns gouges into butterknives. One big difference, mulberry doesn't have thorns!!!

Nathan,

Thanks for the info. I thought they look very similar. I turned a handle for a couple of chisels about a month and a half ago. I sanded to 600 grit and hit it with some nice paste wax and haven't noticed any color changes, yet. They do live in my shop and don't see a lot of sunlight, so my time-frame may mean nothing.

One more thing to remember when turning bodark...If you sweat as much as I do while in the shop don't wear a shirt that you are not willing to dye yellow!!!! Apparently the Indians used it to dye their clothing too. When the dust soaks into a wet shirt it will never come out. I now have matching yellow and brown (walnut) shirts.

Nice haul Cody!

Cody - congrats on all of the wood! Looking forward to seeing what you turn out of some of it! Let me know when you post your blanket chests and I'll jump over to that forum and take a look!

I've got one in the flat work showcase now.