Stave-ation diet

[chamookman]

 I'm with Pearly on this one - get it to a 2"x2" and with a fan. Bob

[Pappy]

My rule is less than 2 years,steam first,after 2 years dry heat. If you plan on using dry heat be sure and seal the back very good and go light on the heat,nothing worse than go to all the trouble to try and keep it from checking and then pull it off the form and the back is full of them.If you heat it much to start with I can almost promise it will be. If it needs a lot of correction I would steam it. JMO.
   Pappy

[DarkSoul]

John, is there a specific reason why you can't 'hot box' the stave in the car AFTER the first session with the guy? In the first session he will reduce the stave to near floor tillered dimensions (if he even gets that far). That means the bulk of the wood will be removed and it will dry a LOT faster, and can handle a lot more intense heat with so little wood left. I'm not sure when your second session if planned, but I would guess that's probably going to take at least a week (next weekend, possibly). I would prefer to quick-dry the wood in that week time, between the first and second session. Should be easy with a hot car. Just weigh the stave as you've done already, and you'll know when it stops losing weight. Seems safer to me than just dumping a whole stave in a car. It would take ages before the moisture is driven out of the center of that big stave.

[JW_Halverson]

The stave is 2 inches wide at the widest right now.  And that is only on the back, it does the usual pie wedge shape from there.  The point of the wedge has been bitten off, so it is just under 2 inches deep.  In effect, it is smaller than the suggested 2x2. 

Weighed again this morning, after a whole day in the sun and wind and it lost a whopping 11 grams...think of it as 11 cc's of water!  I have found that if I leave it out at night, it will gain back about a third of what it loses during the day.  Bringing it inside a climate controlled house prevents that see-sawing. 

Remember the cured vs dry war a while back?  Someone suggested that see-sawing was like excercising the limbs and that would lead to a stave being more stable in the long run.  Folks may remember I came down on the cured side of the issue.  I've told the builder that he is going to aim for a finished weight about 5 lbs stiff of his goal.  That way over the following years he will have even more wiggle room to adjust tiller as it cures and shoots in. 

Glenn is going to be able to spend about one evening/day a week fooling with this stave, so it will be adjusting MC as it is reduced.  I also have an oak board bow blank set up for him to take his frustrations out on if we find that the osage is too noodley to be taken further. 

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks like you have a good start.
As was mentioned you can get it bending an inch or 2 to make it dry faster.

Even "older" staves may not be ready.
I have a Mini  Ligno. They are not inexpensive but they are worth it. I have empirical evidence of when the stave is ready to become a bow. To get around only getting surface readngs I keep using it right to stringing it for the first time.

I keep checking moisture when I get a reading above 10% I stop and let it dry.
Repeat.

Jawge

[TRACY]

I would find a dry stave of another wood and not rush or chance it. I seem to end up with unjust set when I force dry Osage.Put it in storage and let it dry right. Be a shame to not get into that monster Osage and unlock that mojo

Tracy

[JW_Halverson]

Oh contraire', mon frere', Tracy.  The mojo is not to be squandered.  I see a reflexed tip pyramid in that Monster Osage stave, not a shorter ELB. 

There are a few alternatives I can offer, such as a treasured piece of amazing hop hornbeam, a beauty of a shagbark hickory, and even a mighty nice piece of black locust...all of which are well cured and more than ready.  But Glenn wants to go with the King, the yellow fever wood, the rack of osage split for thee!  I even have a piece that can make an elb, IF someone is willing to spend two weekends heating and straightening, something I do not want him to waste his time fooling around with at this point. 

If we booger up this piece of wood, there are GOOD options.  If we booger a good option...well, let's just try to avoid that pitfall.  This piece has not sentimental attachments, after all.