I don't think you should try a real crooked stave for your first osage bow. I can take the stave to a growth ring if you're worried about that step, no problem. You just tell me where you want the stave/bow to be and I'll go that far. You'll have to let me know what you have to trade.
Osage is nearly impossible to rip once it's seasoned. I had some green osage milled with a portable sawmill, it was costly. I had 5 boards cut, I think it cost me $70. I owe Cameroo some board staves from that wood. It did check some so I'm not getting as many board staves as I hoped I would. Here's what getting osage milled looks like.
![](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3650/5769758890_c263ac4d9f_z.jpg)
I guess next time I'll try spraying the boards with shellac to see if it stops the checking. The boards looks like this now.
![](http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6192/6138343817_cc1d5ae891_z.jpg)
Yes, we should probably go to email.
George