cutting staves with a sawmill

[jeffreythree]

Well here is what I will do.  I will be milling my logs within 24 hours of when they hit the ground.  I will knock a thick enough slab for staves from one that shows straight grain, no knots, or any other defects that I can tell.  The slab can then be split into 1 or 2 staves.  I will takes pics of the whole thing, and everyone can tell me if they think it will work or if they are still firewood.  I am not wasting anything by trying since the slab was going into the firewood pile anyway.  I think I will knock out a few thin hickory boards to use for laminations in the future to get a feel for how thin hickory dries while doing the above.

[FlintWalker]

Jeffrey, I know that will work just as well a splitting the logs into staves. 
  I've been the Head Sawfiler at a large hardwood lumber mill for 13 years.  We saw about 120,000 board feet of hardwood lumber every day.
 Like Pat said, I've seen some mills who keep logs on the yard for months and months before sawing them.   In that instance, it is possible for the logs to stain (the early stages of rot) and the wood to degrade to the point of being useless for bows. This is most common with red oak and white oak, but will happen to any of it if left long enough.  That rarely happens where I work because we go through such a massive volume of logs. 
  If you slab the logs heavy enough for the slab to be about 3-4" thick in the center, you'll get a good stave or two from each slab, depending on the diameter and condition of the log.
  Like I said before, I've seen thousands of potential bows chipped up and turned into either paper or charcoal.

[osagedon]

Jeffreythree,   I too own my own portable bandsaw mill.  I actually milled a hickory log for bow wood last weekend.  The first cut (slabs) will be fine for selfbows there will be no ring violations just remove the bark and you have your back.  You might consider spliting  the slabs into usuable widths with a wedge.  After I slabbed the hickory log I quarter sawed the remainder for bow backing.  If there is a wood that can handle ring violations its hickory.  Very tough stuff.    Don