Author Topic: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice  (Read 2169 times)

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Offline make-n-break

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Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« on: April 02, 2016, 04:33:39 pm »
Had my first real Osage haul today. A family member cleared out a couple sections of hedge row and the result was a MOUNTAIN of Osage. Everything from 4" diameter to 24"+.. Hundreds of trees cut into 10' sections. I'd say 80% of the mountain (1/4 of an acre stacked 10 feet high in rows) is too knarly. But some of the good stuff is nice. This load came from two trees about 18" diameter.

Six 64" staves
Eight 54" staves
Eight 48" staves

All of it is seasoned between 5 and 10 years. The 48" staves are 10 years old.

Most of it is nice and straight with little twist. I'll get more staves once I do some more belly splitting. I didn't even make a dent in the pile; only what I could reach easily; but I'm feelin the burn after 5 solid hours of processing.

Yay!
"When making a bow from board staves you are freeing a thing of dignity from the humiliation of static servitude." -TBB1

Offline make-n-break

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2016, 04:34:18 pm »
Rings.
"When making a bow from board staves you are freeing a thing of dignity from the humiliation of static servitude." -TBB1

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2016, 08:16:17 pm »
Nice haul look forward to seeing your shorties !
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline Swampman

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2016, 10:37:36 pm »
Looks like a lot of nice bows there.  Nice haul. 

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2016, 11:30:32 pm »
Nice haul.  I hope you sealed them.  Looks like they are already starting to check on the ends.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline 89JeepYJ

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2016, 11:39:36 pm »
Looks like you hit the jackpot.

Offline make-n-break

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2016, 11:41:00 pm »
They are checked from seasoning 10 years in the elements with no protection. All the checks are prior to processing. I'll have to work these staves deep and work around them. The belly splits have all come off nicely so far with no checks at all.
"When making a bow from board staves you are freeing a thing of dignity from the humiliation of static servitude." -TBB1

Offline lebhuntfish

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2016, 11:58:48 pm »
Sweet haul!  I would seal them anyways bud,  they could still have some moisture in them if they was whole logs. I got some last year that was down for about 5 years. It still acted like green wood but dried out pretty quickly.

Patrick
Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout!

Missouri, where all the best wood is! Well maybe not the straightest!

Building a bow has been the most rewarding, peaceful, and frustrating things I have ever made with my own two hands!

Offline Knoll

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #8 on: April 03, 2016, 12:27:46 am »
You'll have plenty to sell/trade at MoJam!
... alone in distant woods or fields, in unpretending sproutlands or pastures tracked by rabbits, even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day .... .  I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent to what others get by churchgoing & prayer.  Hank Thoreau, 1857

Offline make-n-break

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Re: Looks like I'm gonna get some short Osage bow practice
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2016, 01:31:32 am »
Ok. I'll seal em up. The belly splits came out real close to being one ring. Pry chase them down and then seal. I will bring some to mojam Mike.
"When making a bow from board staves you are freeing a thing of dignity from the humiliation of static servitude." -TBB1