Be sure to process em correctly. Important things:
- Seal the ends as soon as you can after cutting,
- If you remove the bark seal the back,
- Most people recommend if you remove the bark, to remove the sapwood as well, (I remove the bark and seal the sapwood myself, but than again, most people also think I'm an idiot, so there ya go)
- If you don't remove the bark, make sure to spray for bugs, sometimes they can get in even after spraying,
- If you remove the bark at all, no matter what is under it, make sure you seal it. And I am talking about the back of the bow stave. So make sure you seal the both ends and the back. The sides and the belly should be left alone to dry out.
- I recommend splitting the staves out into as small of staves as you are going to, as soon as you cut it. The reasoning behind this is less wood = less chance of checking, which I have found to be true. The osage I cut tends not to warp when it seasons really as long as it is as large a piece as a stave. Although less wood = more a chance of warping. But not near enough of a chance of checking when the wood is large. (Also, warping is fixable, and checking isn't.)
- It is very important how you season your wood. Inside is best, the slower the better. No fans. No air conditioning, as air conditioning drys the air out dramatically, and that will cause a major loss of moisture from the stave FAST, and fast seasoning = checking which will ruin a stave. Too hot or too cold is bad too though, but drastic temperature changes only really happen when staves are kept outside or in a garage I would think.
- The main thing I hear people vote for sealing is shellac. And also poly. I use elmers glue for the back, and tb3 for the ends personally. 2 coats of elmers on the back, 3 coats of tb3 on the ends...
