Osage checking while chasing ring??? Advice needed.

[StickMan47]

Well I decided to start chasing the back ring on a 6 month old Osage stave. It was sealed with poly on the back and ends. I decided to go down 2 rings because the first one was kinda skinny.

I got about 18" chased on the wide end of the stave before I had to stop. I started a job out of town and had to put it down. when I got home the following weekend, I picked it back up and noticed a line running almost down the center of the area where I chased the ring. The line or check goes all the way thru the ring I was going to use down to the early wood on the next ring.

So my question is did I screw up the whole stave? I'm pretty sure I'll have to go down another ring now but I gotta be real careful because the other end of the stave gets pretty skinny. Its only about an inch thick down there. Should I wait and let it cure some more before doing anything else. I was going to just rough it out so it would dry a little faster. Maybe that was a bad idea. I store all my staves indoors. Do I need to put poly back on it so it will not check anymore till its dry?

So what would you experts do in this case? Sorry I don't have pics for you guys to look at, I'm doing this from my phone. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[okie64]

When you chase a new ring on any osage stave its not a bad idea to shellac it or seal it with something. Ive got away with not doing it before but it was on staves that were at least a couple of years old.

[Otter]

I'm no expert Stickman, but I was always told that u need to recoat the back after u chase a ring down. So yes u should have recoated it. If the crack is in the middle and only one ring deep u could fill it with super glue. Super glue is really good with osage. If its for looks u could even back it with rawhide or something.

[Joec123able]

Go to the next clean ring down and seal it. It usually takes me like 15 mins to chase a ring on a 70 inch stave and I seal it right after I get done

[artcher1]

That blue painter's tape isn't only for paint you know . Art B

[SLIMBOB]

Drying checks aren't fatal if they stay inside the limb and don't run off the edge.  Chase another ring if you can, but if not, it will probably be fine if you treat it right.

[StickMan47]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I reckon I'll seal it back up tomorrow until this job I'm on is over. I think I can manage one more ring and still get a bow outta it. Is shellac gonna be easy to remove when I get ready to put my finish on it without taking a chance on breaking thru another ring or is there something better? I like the tape idea but I may be working out of town for a couple more months yet and I really don't want it to get worse. I wasn't planning on backing it so I really don't want the check showing after its all done, so the super glue trick isn't gonna work either because I know that check will bug me everyone I see it.

[Eric Krewson]

Shellac dries brittle and is super easy to scrape off with almost no removal of the underlying wood.

If your wood checked it was still pretty green, a dry osage stave won't check after chasing a grain.

[SLIMBOB]

  Can't completely agree with the above.  Dry is a relative term.  I have had Osage staves check that SHOULD have been dry, just weren't, and checked unexpectedly.  I seal the back on all of 'em, green or seasoned.

[osage outlaw]

  Can't completely agree with the above.  Dry is a relative term.  I have had Osage staves check that SHOULD have been dry, just weren't, and checked unexpectedly.  I seal the back on all of 'em, green or seasoned.

I do the same as Slimbob.  Any time I work on the back of an osage stave I reseal it with shellac.  It's cheap insurance. 

[Eric Krewson]

Osage that has been in my shop for a few years won't check after chasing a grain. Osage left under my deck but out of the weather for a few years may check. I guess there is dry and there is dry-dry.

I ran into this the other day. I took some osage out of my shop(dry-dry) and put it on a rack under my deck to get it out of the way. I looked at the under the deck osage the other day and it had some serious checking on the back. It had been in my shop for years with no checking, exposed to the dampness outside it reverted to only partially dry osage.

[George Tsoukalas]

Well, seal it pronto. Usually not fatal. You could superglue and clamp it.Jawge

[JW_Halverson]

I've had 4 and 5 yr old staves check on me, but that's because my relative humidity is far lower on average than where they were curing down south.  I try to let a stave sit around for 6 months or more before I lay into it.  I'm not being lazy or nothing like that...just preventing drying checks, really!

Good luck with your stave.  Hope you can pull this one outa the fire!

[Sidewinder]

I have had seasoned osage staves check on me too. Especially if they were still a little high in MC and I did'nt know it. They showed up during heat treatment. Matter of fact I have had two that did that and the checks did'nt seem to effect it any. I think so long as they don't run of the edge your probabley ok. Definitely a good idea to reseal the back and ends as insurance. Shellac is my go to sealer for this. If you have some denatured alcohol you can remove shellac that way with a little elbow grease, but like someone else said it scraps off pretty easy and if you have good enough rings it should'nt hurt anything.  Danny

[StickMan47]

ya'lls advice is greatly appreciated. Just finished up out of town job this evening. Got home tonight and off till Monday. I reckon I'll be picking up some shellac and go ahead and chase the entire back and seal her up afterwards. I sure hope I get a bow outta this stave. My first bow was ERC super knotty and I even chased a ring on it! Well before I had it fully tillered I decided to throw some "test" arrows thru it and it blew! I spent a lot of time on that bow. It broke my heart holding 3 beautiful prices of cedar in my hands after all the work I put into it. It was my own fault tho, I drawed her back too far in my excitement trying to get a picture taken.

I learned a lot from that first try. Hopefully I'll never stop learning this craft. I'm just too darn hard-headed to stop. I may even have the option of shortening this piece of Osage if I run outta wood on the skinny end. Right now its 70" long. I really like the look of the longer bows but can make do with a little shorter. This stave shows almost no twist except a smidge on that skinny end, and has only 5 small pin knots on it. The rings are an 1/8th to 3/16 thick! And just a little bit of snake in it which I like.