too dry?

[sadiejane]

have a cupla pieces of osage that seem way way dry.
they were both cut over 20 yrs ago.
one is just about a bow and i have a long sting on it and have bent it some.
this one had been taken down to a rough bow shape when i got it.
the other is still a stave and when i take the drawknife to it it really wants to pull up way too much wood.
even tho i work it both directions trying to overcome this.
its a lovely very flat stave with fat rings.
but the drawknife will pull up below the next layer of early wood if im not really really careful.
tho it is flat and wide, it is not thick enough to screw around and dig too deep.

any thoughts?

[Badly Bent]

Not sure about the dryness being a factor, maybe just the grain? Only thing I would suggest is to maybe go at it with a rasp, file and scraper instead of the drawknife. I'm sure someone else here will have some ideas on the woods condition based on your description.
I seem to take more wood down with the rasp than the drawknife for the same reason on many staves.
Greg

[Pat B]

Like Greg said I doubt they are too dry just because they are old. The wood M/C fluctuates with the R/H of your area.    Have you tried using the draw knife with the bevel side down? That is how I use mine most of the time because I have better control of how much material I take off. When I want to hog wood off I use the draw knife with the bevel up.

[sadiejane]

pat-always use the bevel side down. thats how i was taught and thats how i do it.
certainly dont have as much experience as many on pa,
but ive worked about 20 pieces of osage and there are varying degrees of "dryness" to the wood
these really feel mighty "dry" and almost brittle.
the one im trying to chase a ring on i may just use the rasp initially and then the scrapper.
the other when i get er bending more maybe i will just get out the bear grease and grease it up real well before i take it to full draw.
thanks!

[Pappy]

I have had Osage like that, ant sure weather it was to dry or just the wood,don't like it either, really slows down the ring chasing process,you have to be really careful not to pull up a big splinter, your approch sounds about right,never noticed any problem with the bows made from wood like that after the ring was chased. 
   Pappy

[Marks]

I have practically no experience with woods as I am currently making my first bow but could you just steam it or put it in a room with a humidifier for a while.

[SLIMBOB]

Sadie, I agree with Greg and Pat.  The dryer the better to a point.  The more dense Osage I've worked has seemed more brittle (not the right adjective).  As I worked it with a draw knife the wood seemed to pop off in chunks, as opposed to the slices on less dense wood.  I believe it was/is the differing densities and character of the wood more so than MC.  Having run into the same issue you are having I can only say I work more slowly with the draw knife, scraping more and digging less. 

[Eric Krewson]

Some osage reacts to the draw knife like you described. The key for this type of wood is to pull your draw knife blade at about a 45 degree angle to the wood and take out thin, 1/2" long chips. You want a slicing motion instead of peeling one. With this type of wood you want to stay away from the knots with your draw knife as the lower end will really splinter deeply as you come around the knots. I work around the knots on splintery wood with a dremel tool equipped with a carbide cutting burr.   

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't think I've ever used a dknife bevel down. I vary the angle of attack. With a steep angles more wood will be removed. Wood always acclimates to the surrounding moisture so too dry is not likely unless you live in a desert. If you do, hickory makes for great bow wood for dry conditions. Jawge

[Poggins]

Osage can behave very different from one tree to the next even in the same area . I've cut trees and split them and most will have wood fibers tangled and need a hatchet to get the staves apart, others split clean and easy , some will pull through early wood into the next Late wood layer. When it wants to tair through you will need to go slower and not take as much wood each pass.

[osage outlaw]

Where did you have these staves stored Sadie?  If they were with the rest of your stash and the other staves are fine I don't think its a moisture problem.  But if you had these two in your attic, then that's a different story.