Kevin Hall wrote:
" Al; Being a northern boy I don't get to see much Osage orange or
Black locust."

Black locust is a northern wood, but Osage comes from the South,
having been spread from a single river valley in Texas, as I
understand it. It grows as far north as Central Park in NYC. It was
widely used as a fence/hedge wood (hence another common name, 'hedge
apple' or just 'hedge'), and Ive heard of people runnig into it pretty
commonly in Missouri and Tennessee. Another name you may have heard
for it is 'bodark', from the French 'bois d'arc' or 'bow wood: the
local folks used it for archery bows before the Europeans showed up.

Alan Carruth / Luthier