Osage Orange Ramrod?

Anyone using an Osage Orange ramrod?
Just wondering how they would be,I know the wood is used for making long bow.

Very strong if split from the billet. It might be challenging to find a piece straight enough. And if I did, I’d almost certainly make a bow from it and use hickory for the ramrod.

Osage orange (hedge) is bountiful in northwest Missouri. I have made ramrods from it ,but it is hard to get a straight grain twist. I prefer hickory because of it's flexibility. Hickory splits are easy to make. I pull them through a 1/4" steel plate with the right diameter hole drilled and flanged out to act as a round plain. I let them cure, soak them in diesel fuel for about a month. Dress them down with steel wool and wah la, a ram rod has been born. Dress with tips made from empty cartridges, pins and epoxied on.
I have seen rods break, but have never broke homemade one yet, over 50 years.
Osage makes the best bows and is a great wood along with bur oak where friction wear can be a problem.

I have worked a lot of OO for other purposes. What the others said should be heeded. Plus, OO, by whatever name you call it, has a lot of silica, basically sand, in it and would be very abrasive on the bore. That said, it is flexible and strong.

This has been brought up before and I thought about it before too. Couldn't someone take a sprig off a tree, they run fairly straight but straighten it before it dries like they used to straighten and make arrows? That may be worth a try.

That could turn into a "hold my beer" moment.
Stick with hickory.

mooman76 said:

This has been brought up before and I thought about it before too. Couldn't someone take a sprig off a tree, they run fairly straight but straighten it before it dries like they used to straighten and make arrows? That may be worth a try.

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I think the rod would be a little flexible because the heart wood , I think, would be a little flimsy and could break easy after they were truly cured.
Just guessing.

mooman76 said:

This has been brought up before and I thought about it before too. Couldn't someone take a sprig off a tree, they run fairly straight but straighten it before it dries like they used to straighten and make arrows? That may be worth a try.

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Dogwood was used like that. I wonder if it would serve for a RR

sawyer04 said:

I think the rod would be a little flexible because the heart wood , I think, would be a little flimsy and could break easy after they were truly cured.
Just guessing.

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The heart wood is the strongest part of the OO tree. Much better in both tension and compression than hickory and that is saying something. Anyone ever try to drive a nail into cured OO? It can be heat straightened using steam or dry heat, one bowyer I know heats the ends in a modified microwave oven. That being said, why bother? If you find a stave or billet long enough and straight enough it would be much better used to tiller a bow. But have it your own way... best of luck.

Woodnbow said:

The heart wood is the strongest part of the OO tree.

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True of the Osage, Interesting, never had the occasion to straighten the wood by steaming. I want to try that next time I am visiting my neighbor that has a steam oven.
Short staples for hedge fence post. I recently got a power stapler that drives them home.

Why bother????
Our whole sport is doing things the hard way.... and we think it’s fun. Non nerds shake their heads in wonder

sawyer04 said:

True of the Osage, Interesting, never had the occasion to straighten the wood by steaming. I want to try that next time I am visiting my neighbor that has a steam oven.
Short staples for hedge fence post. I recently got a power stapler that drives them home.

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Steaming works well, dry heat from a bed of coals will as well. Make a few Osage bows and you will learn how to do it of necessity.
Snake bows can be fun and challenging to tiller but for the most part I try to find and work with straighter staves. I use heat for bending recurved tips mostly.

tenngun said:

Why bother????
Our whole sport is doing things the hard way.... and we think it’s fun. Non nerds shake their heads in wonder

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The osage ramrod if finished clear and bright orange would be a striking contrast to the stock initially.

Love that "follow the grain" bow. Wish I could gat a hold on one, but never been where it grows..

I have been meaning to look where I grew up. Use to be some there and probably still are some but most of the ones I remember look like they are gone.

The osage ramrod if finished clear and bright orange would be a striking contrast to the stock initially.

Woodnbow, I'm glad you said "initially". All OO I have ever seen turns dark brown with exposure to light. I have been told some will hold it's orange/yellow color but, personally, have never observed that.

Rifleman1776 said:

The osage ramrod if finished clear and bright orange would be a striking contrast to the stock initially.

Woodnbow, I'm glad you said "initially". All OO I have ever seen turns dark brown with exposure to light. I have been told some will hold it's orange/yellow color but, personally, have never observed that.

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Been my experience too. It’s photo reactive turns a kind of muddy brown and it’s not exactly a beautiful wood when it’s darkened this way.

I also agree and IMO looks better when aged, in fact very good looking.

I don't think Osage orange refers to the color of the wood, but maybe the look of the fruit. All of it I have seen is a brassy yellow and someone said turns to a brown. I think it is an attractive wood. Maybe for looks some might find it more pleasant than hickory and no doubt as durable. Should someone make a ramrod from it I for one would like to see a pic before and after it ages.
Dave

I"m sure you are correct. The Hedge apples look like or similar to unripened oranges.