the thing was completely tillered before I started bending and I only got one tiny crack in one limb tip about 6"in from tip it will sand out .will put underlays on it any way. will have to tweak a spot or two and do some weight reduction cause I know its going to be heavier than I want, the black spots aren't that deep and will pretty much go away with the finish work. ive put some strong bends in osage before this one and they worked out, this one was 60"before starting.got to get a few things collected to finish and let it rest a few days, who knows it might live ,like George says[ if you aint makin you aint breakin]