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  #1  
Old 01-07-2017, 09:11 PM
Sam VanLaningham Sam VanLaningham is offline
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Default Osage orange prices

Hi all. I'm thinking of getting some quartersawn Osage orange. It's just very nice looking straight grained stuff. I see some rift sawn sets going for $125 ish. I read a thread from a few years ago also suggesting $150 for regular stuff and up to maybe $200-300 for good to figured stuff. I see a wide range of prices by the board foot. What's the going rate for quartered Osage these days?

Thanks for the help.


Sam
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  #2  
Old 01-08-2017, 07:55 AM
B. Howard B. Howard is offline
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Osage Orange is not a commercially logged species and is very difficult to find by the board foot. Most of what is commercially available is turning blanks. A quick check of the specialty lumber yards I deal with yielded no results for Osage.
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Old 01-08-2017, 08:08 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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All the stuff I've seen has a fair amount of figure, most of the larger stuff cut from old fence rows. Farmers used to plant it because it worked well for windbreaks and could be cut to make rot resistant fence posts. Small mill owners don't like to work the hedgerow stuff because of the strong possibility of running into metal and/or trash embedded in the wood.

I've had a small amount cut from felled trees and found it to be dimensionally unstable with a tendency to twist or move when it's worked to expose new surfaces. It's beautiful, but I'd choose something else for larger sections that I wanted to stay put. Maybe there's some larger stuff out there that doesn't display those attributes but I haven't seen it.
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Old 01-08-2017, 11:39 AM
Truckjohn Truckjohn is offline
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As Brian mentions, it's not really commercially logged. Many places view it as a trash tree along side sweet gum and the various locusts.

I have had better luck finding less common stuff like this on with EBay than any other place.... I think it's a good way for the guy who cuts up one tree but isn't in the tonewood business to handle things.

Another option is to check with local sawyers to see if they have or ever get any. Check also with local tree service guys.... Same thing. If they know you want it - you will get the phone call first... But it's a log that you will have to then deal with.
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Old 01-08-2017, 01:07 PM
Sam VanLaningham Sam VanLaningham is offline
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Excellent! Thanks for chiming in. So, I don't think I was clear in my op...... I already have a source for some nicely quartered, straight grained, Unfigured boards but really just trying to get a handle on what I should be willing to pay. I look forward to hearing a guitar with it too!

Sam
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Old 01-08-2017, 02:38 PM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam VanLaningham View Post
Excellent! Thanks for chiming in. So, I don't think I was clear in my op...... I already have a source for some nicely quartered, straight grained, Unfigured boards but really just trying to get a handle on what I should be willing to pay. I look forward to hearing a guitar with it too!

Sam
Supply and demand. Does your source sell much of it? Can you buy a wood that you like equally for that price? Had a wood supplier here that had a piece of flat sawn at a price that I was not willing to pay for it. Somebody bought it though as it is gone.
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Old 01-08-2017, 06:54 PM
Truckjohn Truckjohn is offline
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So... There's probably a good reason that Osage Orange costs almost twice what Cherry costs and probably 33% more than walnut... Especially when you consider that the trees can be almost free vs cherry and walnut logs.....

Osage orange is not usually found in long, straight, knot and twist free logs.... Most Osage is horrible, gnarly, knotty, lumpy, twisty stuff.... And that's not an efficient place to start for guitar wood.

So.... What is your cost structure? Can you pick through the whole stack for 1 board or do you have to pay to have the log cut? Is it already good and dry or do you have to wait a couple years for green wood to dry/season. Do you have an outlet for the wood you can't use for guitar stuff? Do you resaw or do you have to pay for someone else to do that. Do you have a big wide sander or do you have to pay someone?

Perhaps $3 or $4/board foot air dried sounds decent. But lets take a best case... Say one 3' section is clear for backs on the board and another smaller board has a 4' long section clear for sides.... But you had to buy both and that was 16 board feet. $16x4 =$64... Hopefully you can get 2 sets out of it.... $32/set in wood alone. But say you gotta pay someone to resaw it. Let's say $75 for that because of the setup time. Now you are at $139 for 2 sets - or about $70 each..... But you had to do 100% of the legwork....

And at that price - you get what you get. There is no looking at pix on the web and deciding on the best one.. It's yours.....

Now... $40/set on top of that doesn't sound like a bad charge for somebody else to post pix you can agonize over without having to make 300 phone calls and trips all over creation + finding the people to do all this work for you.
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Old 01-11-2017, 03:32 PM
Sam VanLaningham Sam VanLaningham is offline
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Thx Fred and John! I think it's a good question for me whether here's something else I'd rather have for the price. I kind of like these alt tonewoods but partly because they're cheaper!


They definitely want way more than $3-4 per board foot. He has two slabs that are 20" ish wide 60" ish long 2" thick. He wants to minimize labor and likely sell them as whole as possible, which I can understand. Here's a link to some smaller back-sized pieces (25" x 15".....soooo close!!!) that originally inspired me asking him for some side boards. But he doesn't want to just cut me a small sides dimensioned piece, which again, I accept and understand. Nice looking stuff though.

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Old 01-11-2017, 03:49 PM
cattzap cattzap is offline
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Here is some

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/159...-x-4-x-48.aspx
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  #10  
Old 01-12-2017, 11:01 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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Quote:
Say one 3' section is clear for backs on the board and another smaller board has a 4' long section clear for sides..
Why so long? 2 feet for backs and 3 feet for sides is plenty.....even when allowing for end checking of green wood.
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Old 01-13-2017, 06:23 AM
Otterhound Otterhound is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Arnold View Post
Why so long? 2 feet for backs and 3 feet for sides is plenty.....even when allowing for end checking of green wood.
The voice of experience . Listen closely .
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  #12  
Old 01-13-2017, 02:38 PM
Alan Carruth Alan Carruth is offline
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Sam:
That plank looks as though it was cut right across the center of the trunk; there seems to be bark wane on both edges. It could be well quartered out at either edge (and seems to be), but you might not get wide pieces from it. Also, the Osage I've gotten that included the pith tended to have a LOT of radial checking in the middle. It may well be hard to get anything usable wider than about 4" from that wide plank.
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