how many staves do you keep?

[Strichev]

I have beeween 40 and 50 ash staves. All are stored inside. Considering how much free time I have, I'm set for 30 years of ash bows.

[Bryce]

Not counting lumber and billets. Somewhere between 350-400 staves. 97%yew and 2% vinemaple the rest is misc. woods and a dozen or so Osage 

[PaSteve]

Right now 10 but I'm hoping to add to that real soon.

[Eric Krewson]

I don't know exactly, I am guessing 25 osage staves, some dogwood, hickory, a premo yew stave, 25 or 30 osage billets, mostly mismatched and 7 or 8 osage and hickory bow blanks.

THis count is down from a couple of hundred staves that I have been working through for the last 25 years. I don't plan on ever cutting osage again, I am too old and have wood I will never use.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I’m not really sure, but I’d say I have about 200 good staves and another 30-50 highly characters and iffy staves. Right now it’s about 40% hackberry, 30% hickory, about 20% black locust, then a random assortment of ERC, persimmon, Osage and black cherry. I need to get a couple more trees oof black locust as it’s my favorite to work with. But in the mean time, I have lots of dried hickory to play with.

Kyle

[Bubbabowyer]

I have another pic of a bigger trailer but I cant shrink it small enough to fit on here lol

[Bubbabowyer]

This don't do it justice lol

[gifford]

Just a few hickory blanks, couple black locust staves and one lone osage blank.

There was a time that I had a lot more but never as many as some have now.

[TimBo]

Did anyone else think the extension cord(?) in Eric's second photo was a nice, reflexed, wiggly yellow osage stave?  This thread is making me see things...

[hoosierf]

I have about 50.  A few Yellow birch, a few ash, lots of HHB, few maple, a dozen Osage, half a dozen yew, 3 apple, 4 hawthorn, one black locust, 3 or 4 red cedar, 3 Rocky Mountain juniper, 3 or 4 buckthorn, 2 or 3 elm, 3 mulberry, and a rattan stave that could make 2. This has been a good exercise for me.   Been thinking about what to build next.

I really need to rough some more out to condense the pile.

I have a bandsaw and a joiner but I generally like to build them with all hand tools.  Much more enjoyable. The wife says no more bow wood.

[EdwardS]

I have 5 white oak and a partially tillered bow.

[bjrogg]

I really don’t know. Probably about 50 to 70 right now that are cured. Another dozen in different stages. It always seems like a lot till I get some time and the bug bites me. Then I can go through a heck of a pile of wood. I got enough other projects going that I haven’t really gotten started on bows this winter yet. I kinda like it that way. Variety is the spice of life and it seems to keep me motivated and stop me from burning out.

Deerhunter. I’d suggest harvesting a few logs and processing them. Then harvest a few more and process them. As much work as a chainsaw can be. It’s the easy part. Lots and lots of work after that yet. If you harvest to many at once, you will be overwhelmed and very likely not up to the task again.
I would recommend starting to accumulate a inventory though. I remember the first year I sawed and processed what I thought would last me years. I couldn’t believe how fast I went through it. I go in streaks though.
Bjrogg

[jeffp51]

You know, if some of you feel like you have too many, some of us in more wood-poor parts of the country would be happy to help you out. . .

I tend to have about 10 staves on hand at any time, which is enough--I can only work one at a time, and I usually only manage 3-4 bows a year.

[Eric Krewson]

I peaked out at 15 bows a year, old age and osage dust allergies have slowed me down to  almost nothing.

[Marc St Louis]

Haven't cut any bow wood in a few years so my supply is starting to go down.  Probably 50~100 staves, including billets, and enough board stock for another 50 bows