Log to workable stave

[hedgeapple]

I'm new to this site.  I hope I'm asking this quest in the correct forum.  A couple weeks ago I cut a hickory sappling from my farm.  It was 3 1/3" diameter at the small end.  This would be my first attempt at building a self bow or bow of any kind really.  I split it nearly in half, scraped the outer and inner bark away, painted the ends and hung to begin drying while I work on constructing a drying box.  I checked it today has dry cracks almost completely through it.

When we bought our farm 9 years ago it was mostly plasture land with trees along the fence rows and in gulleys.  We have let the pastures grow in hopes of one day having forest.  So, trees are dear to my heart.  I don't want to keep whacking them down then not be able to use them.

Please advice me on how to handle the wood from log to stave and the how to store the stave until I can work on the bow.

Thanks.

[cracker]

Hedgeapple
   Personally I leave the bark on this slows down the drying process which is a good thing when you are talking about a stave paint the ends with some heavy paint  and put it in a shady place where air can circulate and bugs cannot. With a thick piece of wood the outside wood dries and shrinks quicker than the inside wood and this is what causes cracking. Another method is to reduce the wood to near bow dimensions and  let it dry that way.Hope this helps.
Ronnie

[hedgeapple]

thanks cracker

[madcrow]

If you are going to cut more hickory, have the bucket of paint or polyeuathane there when you cut it.  Basically as soon as you cut through it, slap on a good layer on the ends.  I have had them ckeck in as little as 15 minutse of cutting.

[cracker]

I also cut mine over length so  I can trim the ends and get rid of any cracks that might form there.Ron

[mdwatts]

Cut the saplings (trees) on a dying moon.   Leave the bark on, as stated previously.

[Shooter_G22]

what does this mean on a dying moon...   does that mean when the moon looks like a thin slice of lemmon wedge?   does this really help or are you being a joker???   

really lol.. i need to know this becuase i just went and cut a 3 1/2" thick branck off a osage tree today about 62" long and i trimed it up but havent de-barked or anything yet...

   but explain becuase i will waite next time to look for a dying moon.... if its true aor what i think it means???

[hedgeapple]

The cracks were up the center at the groove where the heart wood had popped out.  There are cracks all up the stave except for the ends where I painted.  Should I use some kind of oil or animal fat up the stave?

[M-P]

I occasionally just put a coat of tung oil over the entire stave to slow moisture loss and help prevent cracking.  I'm not sure it helps, but it does'n seem to hurt.   Ron

[hedgeapple]

Here's another potentially crazy question:  Years ago I read you should submerge osage logs in water for like a year to kill bugs and tighten the grain before you start the drying process.  In everything I've read online in the last month, I've seen no mentions of drowning the osage logs.  Is doing so crazy?  Should I pull my two logs out of the pond? 

Yes, I'm a newby.  Bare with me.

[DanaM]

You actually put logs in yer pond

First off cut the tree, seal the ends with glue, wax, or shellac nice heavy coat, paint don't  work for crap.
If the tree is big enough split it and remove the bark, on hickory becareful as the ring just under the bark is the back of your bow
and you don't want to cut through the growth ring nor nick it up too much. Once the bark is off seal the back with glue or shellac,
set it some where dry and out of the weather to dry. Osage needs the sapwood removed and then seal the back. If bugs are a problem
use an insecticide on the wood before storing them to dry. As for soaking the log the only possible advantage I see there is that it may make the bark on winter cut wood peel off easier

[Auggie]

I know Ive picked up some osage out of the creek that had been submerged,and dried it out,but never heard of intentionally drowning a stave. Get em out of the water and let dry.In the mean time you may wanna try building a board bow,or try trading for a stave on the trading post. Either way youll find plenty of help here!

[GregB]

I do what Dana said...but will expand a little on his directions...

With white wood (hickory, hophornbeam, ash, hackberry, dogwood, etc.) cut the tree in the spring when the sap is up...May, June time frame I guess depending on where you live. The day that you cut the tree, cut it into 6' lengths and split it either in half's or quarter's depending on the tree's diameter. Carefully pop the bark off the back by wedging a hachet or similar tool under one corner of the bark at an end of the log and remove full length. It should pop right off with a little tugging on it. We then lightly scrape off the cambium layer which is a fibrous wet layer remnants between where the bark and hardwood was. Be careful doing this because as Dana said, this surface will be the back of your bow. When finished I wipe that surface off with a towell and then heavily shellac both the back full length, and each end. I even go down a few inches on the splits on the belly side from each end. I would then try and store it where it isn't really hot...don't want it to lose moisture extremely fast to begin with and potentially cause some splits.

If you leave the bark on as other's have mentioned and seal the ends, that will work...and allows you to cut the tree any time of the year. Probably would be better if you plan to leave the bark on to cut the tree in the winter when the sap is down so the log doesn't have as much moisture to lose. The negative side of this option is having to remove the bark with a drawknife or hachet because it won't pop off as it will in the spring, which is a pretty good job. Will also have to chase a grain as you would with osage. Pro's and con's to each process...

[Hillbilly]

I do much as Greg and Dana said. You usually don't have many problems with hickory checking this time of year, but I usually slap some glue or shellac over the whole back just to be on the safe side. I used to leave the bark on until bugs ate most of my staves, get that bark off.  Definitely get that osage out of the pond . And split it into staves-whole logs will check much quicker than split staves.The whole idea is to get the wood down to a low moisture content, but you have to do it in such a way as to initially keep water from escaping so quickly that the stave checks. Sealing the ends and back with glue or shellac will do the job. Also, you can take a dripping green stave and work it down into a roughed-out lightly floor-tillered bow blank, seal the back and ends, and it will dry quickly. You can have a bow shooting in a couple-three months if you do this.

[Pat B]

I believe the thinking about submerging an osage log for a year was that the natural moisture, sap, resins, etc. would be replaced with the water and would dry more evenly with less ill effects to the wood. Personally I would prefer to have the natural moisture in and for the stave to dry naturally so the resins, etc would solidify and create a stronger, more springy stave.
   Did your hickory stave crack on the belly side or the back?  If the belly, I wouldn't worry about it and if the back, you may be able to work around it. Checks follow the grain and are not necessarily the end of the stave.   Pat