Can our Osage do this?

[KellyG]

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

[DVSHUNTER]

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.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

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

[snag]

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.

[KellyG]

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.

[tim-flood]

I was told that they used it in the first world war to dye the kaki cotton from the soutk

[scrub-buster]

This is great news!  I have a 40 gallon trash can full of yellow shavings.  Anyone want to trade for it???  

[KellyG]

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

[frank bullitt]

Sure it is!

Haven't you ever worked a stave, in the sweltering heat of summer, in a white T-shirt?

[KellyG]

Frank,
Nope just started my firs Osage project less than a month ago. I bet it turns it a nice yellow.
Thanks,
Kelly

[red hill]

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

[Dan Landis]

Sounds like a good posibility for dying my next batch of turkey feathers.

[KellyG]

hmm Dan let us know how they turn out.

[Dan Landis]

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

[fujimo]

if you dye with the osage dye- say on some maple,does it also darken with time- like an osage stave would.
wayne

[SEMO_HUNTER]

No thanks Scrub Buster, I got my own....plus what's all over the floor.    

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:

[KellyG]

I got some soaking but it did has not really done anything like the one on that page.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Warm it up on a hot plate.