New Waster

[George Turner]

Yes,

I've read that one of the reasons that Osage is so widespread throughout the U.S. is that farmers kept planting them to get fence post lumber. Many of the grey, twisty fence-posts you see are osage. It's incredibly insect and rot resistant, and can lay on the forest floor for decades without serious damage. It also burns incredibly well in the fireplace, just short of being napalm. When you cut it, it starts out as a bright orange or yellow, then slowly changes colors to the neutral grey.

[Jim Nickles]

Hey,y'all,
That is some fine looking wood Kyle has.Wish I had some.But I guess I'll have to make do with this white hickory sapling outside the front door here.I been eyeing it rather speculatively lately, and your discussion reminded me of an old hillbilly trick that y'all might find useful. My grandpa, used to make his own axe, hammer, pick,shoveland pitchfork handles out of white hickory,. After peelin 'em, he'd whittle out the particular shape and contour he wanted and then lay 'em up to dry, checkin periodically for straightness,warp,etc.
When dry, he'd stick 'em down in a trough full of coal oil( kerosene) and let 'em soak a month or so. This was called tempering for much the same reason, I guess.He said the coal oil allowed the wood fibers to slide against each other and made the handles tougher and springier. I don't know about that, but I never broke one of Grandpa's pitchfork handles., and used to be hell on the untempered store-bought ones.My Dad could make 'em bend like a fishing pole and they wouldn't break. I just figured that,as usual, Grandpa knew what he was doing. It's just time consuming, is all.
KY Jim

[Scott Anderson]

so far the poplar a friend and I have been using to build our wasters seems to be working well. beat the daylights out of an old wooden porch without even marking them up. and a few heavy test strikes against each other only showed a minor shine where they contacted.

SPA

[GaryGrzybek]

Scott,

Isn't Poplar kind of light though?

I have a walking stick made from poplar but I don't use it for fear that it's too fragile. My ash short staff feels much more solid.

[Scott Anderson]

Depends on what you mean by light? i had two hardwood choices in my local, red oak or poplar, both have the same weight, and my grandfather (who was a cabinet maker/ longtime woodworker) suggests poplar as being able to take abuse better, aka it's a more flexible wood than oak. it should work out fine, if not, i'm out $6 and a couple hours of work.

SPA

[Jared L. Cass]

Jim,

Sounds like I'd like to try that karosene trick! I've often wondered why those old axe/shovel/pitchfork handles are still in such great shape...even if they've been left in less than ideal environments. Even here in Wisconsin, where we have hot humid summers and freezing cold winters, it seems that the old tool handles always outperform any new, store bought ones. It seems the old ones put up with a lot more abuse, and therefor get used more often. Many of the professional landscaping firms up here, really charish their few remaining "antiques."

I'm definantly going to experiment with a waster. I'll report back sometime in the future on how this pans out.

Jared L. Cass, Wisconsin

[JeffGentry]

that is a heck of a waster wish mine looked that good, and no Shane i am good at breaking waster's on pell's i tend to get a little to intent on killing non living thing's <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> so i make mine it is much cheaper.