Some time back there was a thread about using osage leaves, bark, and wood as a dye to color things. I mentioned then that I would have to give it a try sometime. Well, I finally got around to it. The first 2 pics shows a natural barred turkey feather after soaking in osage wood chips from a chain saw. I used 3 cups of wood chips, 1 cup of boiling water, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and left it soak for about an hour. The next 2 pics show a completed black walnut arrow with a fletch dyed with a mixture of fresh cut leaves, twigs, and a cup of wood chips. This batch had about the same amount of water and vinegar and soaked for the same time.
As you can see the wood chips turned out much darker, I don't think the leaves and twigs would have done much at all without the wood chips. i wanted to try some bark from a green tree, but do not have any available at this time. I'm thinking the bark and sap wood would turn out a darker yellow, maybe even orange, just guessing.....Dan
Topic: Osage as a fletching dye (Read 259 times)
