[littleknife]

Looks like a nice material for a hiking staff.

Do you plan to finish it with a UV-resistant coating to preserve the color?

 

[littleknife]

Looks like a nice material for a hiking staff.
Do you plan to finish it with a UV-resistant coating to preserve the color?

You are way above my level of expertise. I've ben using just 100% Tung oil on sticks. I have much to learn, and I welcome suggestions.

CAS, I am embarrassed. I am no expert in any way when it comes to pretty much anything, including stickmaking.

I met a woodworker craftsman at a local fair a couple of years ago and he had some pretty osage orange wares. He told me, that the vibrant yellow color of the freshly worked osage orange wood surface will darken considerably with exposure to light, and he actually had on hand some older pieces which were indeed darker.

He also told me, that the only way to delay the darkening was to apply some UV-resistant coating and keep the wood out of direct sunlight or strong artificial light when possible.

Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the different finishes regarding their UV-protecting potential, so I cannot give you a specific suggestion for a product, but hopefully someone here can.

 

[littleknife]

CAS, I am glad if I helped in any way.

I was curious if there is tung oil product which would also provide protection agains UV light, and google returned this:

http://www.waterlox.com/faqs/wood-finishing-outdoors/sunlight--and-waterlox-tung-oil-wood-finishes

Also found this topic:

http://www.swingpaints.com/viewmessage.asp?id=1798

Once again, someone with real life experience has to comment as to how much of the above is true.

 

[littleknife]

According to this site even polyurethane with UV-blocker did not prevent the considerable darkening of the osage orange wood:

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/osage%20orange.htm

It could be that the UV blocker dissipates the UV energy into visible light or infrared light (heat) and those might contribute to the darkening.
Also, the different blockers are likely not only not 100% efficient but also vary in their efficiency.
I wish there was a publication where they would compare & measure the efficiency of different finishes regarding their ability to preserve the color of different woods.