Is It worth it?

[Dean Marlow]

Early this fall I had a nice young man come to me and was wanting a Osage selfbow. He had shot a longbow a few times that was one of his friends and fell in love with them. But he said he had a money problem and just couldn't afford one right now. Well old kind hearted Dean said we can work something out. I was young once and starting a family and having to watch my pennies. But he said he knew where he could get some Osage logs and was wondering if I would trade a bow for some Osage logs. I said I sure would. One evening I heard a truck pull into my driveway and there he was with 4 giant Osage logs in the back of his truck. They were so big I had to use my tractor loader and a chain to get them out. 2 of the logs were fairly descent and the other 2 were just fire wood. One of the logs had the snakiest bark on it I had ever seen. I told my wife if this thing will split they will be unreal character Osage staves. I tied into it the other day and this is what I am getting. It took me 2 hours just to get it split in half. I am not going to salvage a whole lot out of it. Maybe a couple of long ones and a couple of billets at the most. I am still pooped. I love Bengay. Dean

[jthompson1995]

Nope, not worth it at all. Tell you what, just send me that nasty, wiggly wood and I'll take care of it for you, the nice guy that I am.

Honestly, though, I'd say it's definitely worth it. That stave on the left is beautifully snakey, but even and pretty straight overall. It will make a gorgeous bow. I'd have to wait until I have a bit more experience to handle it but I wouldn't throw it out.

[medicinewheel]

That's the sort of wood Pappy probably would kill for...
Right Pappy?? 

[Boofus]

Well i wouldn't kill for it..... But i would pay some good $ for it!

[broketooth]

what are ya waitin for??? where are the shavings and pics? that will make one cool lookin bow. good luck with it

[sailordad]

heck ya i would say it was worth it

if you dont want that snakey one on top left of the pile
let me know and we will see if we can do a trade of sorts  
i would love to tackle that sucker

[Dean Marlow]

 They all got a home if I can salvage them. The grain is so interlocked that they split vertically on me when you start the split on the end. There is no way I can start the split in the middle of the log. It just won't split. I need a giant log splitter. I may end up just sawing the rest of it about 4" wide then working it down following the grain on the edges after taking the bark off of it to try and salvage something out of it. I know I will be waisting quite a bit but using wedges I may end up with nothing. Pappy doesn't know where I live so I am safe there. Dean

[Little John]

I would syt to let it season and then chase a ring then reduce it to near bow dimentions and the you will see what you have in the way of potential and problems, then you will know if it was worth it. Looks like it might have a georgious bow in there.

[gmc]

Those look like a lot of fun, Dean.

[Dean Marlow]

Thats a good idea Little John. I will put it up and let it dry then see what I can do with it.

[lowell]

Makes me want to walk some hedge rows looking for bark like that.....is bark like that a good indicator of a snakey stave??

 Just not today...we are having a blizzard!!

[hillbilly61]

Would'nt it make it easier to build and take less time to dry, if you got them down to floor tiller? Then seal the ends and back?

[adb]

Those are a couple of nasty, snakey, crooked-a$$ed staves!! Yummy! I've never built a snakey osage, but I'd sure like to try with something like those!

[Dean Marlow]

Yes when you are looking at hedge trees the bark will tell you lots on what you got underneath. Most of my problem here was it is so big across. Also I had a guy tell me wood splits easier the colder it is. I live in Illinois and we are having a blizzrd right now so maybe by tomorrow morning they will be split on there own. Wishful thinking.

[Pat B]

That is some snakey stuff.     It is definately worth keeping and attempting to build bows from that log. With wood like that you won't know what to expect until you get into it and then it will probably be still full of surprises.
  I would set it aside in a protected place and let it stabilize before I worked on it. I have never worked with wood that snakey so take my advise with a grain of salt.
  I got(and still have) a beautiful snakey stave from David Knight that he had gotten from Sawfiler. Very snakey but the stave is as straight as an arrow. Shannon attempted a bow or 2 from the same wood and it(they) failed. The problem was that each yearly growth ring grew in a different plane from the one below it and this was throughout the entire stave so each growth ring fought between the rings above and below it and not in unison like most staves do.
   Even if you don't make a successful bow from any of that log each stave will teach you plenty if you give it a chance.