[modeleng] Re: What I'm Up To

Harry,

Osage Orange is from our western states and was brought East to be used as 
living hedges.  The Osage Indians used the tough yellow heart wood to make 
bows, hence the French trapper's name for it, "Bois d'Arc" or "Bow Wood". 
It is almost impossible to get through a fence or hedge made of the stuff 
because of its dense growth habit and many sharp thorns.  There was the 
remains of an old Osage fence across the street from where I grew up, but at 
that time I didn't realize it had been planted to act as a fence as there 
were but few trees still standing in the 1940s..  There is still a nice 
Osage fence at the Missouri Botanical Garden ( Shaw's Gardens) in St. Louis, 
MO, but the trees have grown too tall to act as a fence for anything but 
giraffes.  At one time I supplied Dixie Gun Works with small slabs of the 
heartwood to use for hand made hunting knife handles (scales). The big green 
(grapefruit sized) seed balls were a favorite for throwing at other boys in 
our neighborhood, but they left your hands sticky. The heartwood ought to 
work great in your bandsaw guides.

Jesse in Troy, TN USA where it is foggy and has been all day.

Harry, . . . We also used Osage Orange, "Bois d'arc", and it did well but 
was hard to come by. - Jesse Livingston.

 Jesse,
 We've got plenty of that stuff around here.  We've always called it 
"Mock-Orange."

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