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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: KellyG on January 28, 2011, 10:24:00 AM

Title: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: KellyG on January 28, 2011, 10:24:00 AM
Ok I heard someone mention Argentina Osage (Maclura tinctoria) on here in one of the threads so, I thought  would look it up. The following like is kind of interesting but the dye made is what I would like to know about.
http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/mora.htm
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: DVSHUNTER on January 28, 2011, 10:48:00 AM
Kelly, absoultly. Osage makes one hell of a yellow dye. I have stained things before and it is permanent. After I use my steam tube the pot water turns a dark red from the osage. Biol some shavings and you'll get the same result.
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: Stiks-n-Strings on January 28, 2011, 10:53:00 AM
A buddy of mine is into the revolutionary reenactment stuff and he uses my shavings to make dye for his time period clothing. He told me that was how they used to do it.

Stiks
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: snag on January 28, 2011, 12:33:00 PM
Sounds like there is a good use for all these shavings! That would be kind of cool to boil some and make a dye that you could use on the osage bow you got the shavings from...full circle type of thing.
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: KellyG on January 28, 2011, 01:24:00 PM
Snag that was my thoughts, or a raw hide backing. You learn something every day.
thanks.
You can still eat that ones fruit, and only the seeds out of ours if you want to pick them out and clean them off.
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: tim-flood on January 28, 2011, 01:54:00 PM
I was told that they used it in the first world war to dye the kaki cotton from the soutk
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: scrub-buster on January 28, 2011, 02:47:00 PM
This is great news!  I have a 40 gallon trash can full of yellow shavings.  Anyone want to trade for it???  :goldtooth:
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: KellyG on January 28, 2011, 03:16:00 PM
Scrub-buster,
If it is a metal one add water and boil it down. then I guess old water bottles or milk jugs would work to store it.
Kelly
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: frank bullitt on January 28, 2011, 08:54:00 PM
Sure it is!

Haven't you ever worked a stave, in the sweltering heat of summer, in a white T-shirt?
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: KellyG on January 28, 2011, 09:14:00 PM
Frank,
Nope just started my firs Osage project less than a month ago. I bet it turns it a nice yellow.
Thanks,
Kelly
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: red hill on January 28, 2011, 09:26:00 PM
Yep, Frank! My wife wasn't happy with me either. And I was working on a billet bow not even a fresh split stave.  Yellar, yellar, yellar!
Stan
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: Dan Landis on January 29, 2011, 11:20:00 AM
Sounds like a good posibility for dying my next batch of turkey feathers.
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: KellyG on January 29, 2011, 03:57:00 PM
hmm Dan let us know how they turn out.
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: Dan Landis on January 29, 2011, 08:29:00 PM
Kelly, I have an osage stave that I'll be chasing the back ring on soon, I'll save some of the shavings and give it a try sometime in the next week or so.  One thing I just thought of, is it better to use green shavings or don't it matter?   Dan
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: fujimo on January 29, 2011, 09:38:00 PM
if you dye with the osage dye- say on some maple,does it also darken with time- like an osage stave would.
wayne
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: SEMO_HUNTER on January 30, 2011, 04:49:00 PM
No thanks Scrub Buster, I got my own....plus what's all over the floor.   :scared:  

Also, if you do any steaming you will notice the dark brown water when it's all over with. Osage has a dark brownish orange natural oil in it, and like one of the others has alread said. I've ruined more than a couple of Tshirts from cutting Osage and splitting staves, now I wear black unless it's in the middle of summer and I'm outside.

It would be my guess that you could cook it down and keep boiling until it finally thickened up and use it as stain on your finished Osage bow?
Or feather dye?

Maybe I'll try this little experiment myself and report back?   :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: KellyG on January 30, 2011, 05:31:00 PM
I got some soaking but it did has not really done anything like the one on that page.
Title: Re: Can our Osage do this?
Post by: SEMO_HUNTER on January 30, 2011, 06:00:00 PM
Warm it up on a hot plate.