Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: DV IN MN on February 15, 2012, 01:54:52 am
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I have a piece of Osage on our property that is aprox 20-30 feet straight no branches. Diameter 10 in.. Last year I cut an Osage and got 24 staves that are aging in the garrage. The tree i in a bottom protected and alive . I have plenty to work for the next few years, do I take the chance let it grow and wait or cut it when I am there at the end of March and or April?
Second ? can I cut peal off the bark and sap wood and age as a log? I have storage that would be out of weather and bugs?
With that said would I need to peel the I debarked and peeled the sap wood I would seal the log.
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Would I need to peel and debark or can I leave bark on and seal the ends?
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I say, wait till the sap runs (late spring, early summer) so the bark will come off clean, and just seal the sapwood. That way you get a nice clean stave with no risk of bugs. I am not of the school that you have to remove the sapwood or it will check. But that is what alot of people will tell you, that you have to remove the sapwood or the back will check. I have a bunch of staves with the sapwood on right now. I use elmers glue to seal the back. None of the backs has checked.
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Cut it now, seal the ends and store it in a protected location. In a few days split the log in half . If you want to remove the bark now you should remove the sapwood(and you will never just peel osage sapwood off) too or it will check and possibly ruin the heartwood. Split out staves first before removing the bark and sapwood. Be sure to seal the exposed heartwood back as soon as you expose it. You can leave the bark on but you better treat it for insects or they will eat your bow wood. After a month or so, split the staves out of the osage log halves.
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Good advice already given.
I'm soooo jealous - I love osage but being in England means there isn't much about (read as non). I've got some saplings growing and they have got to 12 inches tall....so just a little while until they get to 12 inch diameter!
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You can never seal sapwood well enough to stop checking especially if it is thick, it has to come off if you remove the bark.
I would plan ahead, pick a time when the weather is pleasant for cutting, splitting and removing bark and sapwood and put the tree on the ground.
Back in my early bow making days I would try to cut corners, cut a log and short stop the whole process by leaving the trunk whole, bark untreated, bark off but sapwood left on and numerous other osage transgressions. Lost a lot of mighty fine wood to my carelessness.
Everything I cut now gets the complete treatment from trunk to shellacked, sapwood free staves before I put them up to cure. An osage stave, once collected, is a very special thing to me, I treat it with the respect it deserves.
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Well said Eric. My staves get the same treatment before being put up to cure.
DV in MN, if you have the space to store all of the staves I would go ahead and cut it. You never know what the future holds. I don't think you can ever have to much bow wood on hand. Although some of our wives do not agree with that statement ;D
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If you do cut it spray it with peside. BORES, eggs are only leged of deing wood. The the larve has the dieng wood to feed on. I just get mine at LOWES. I uselly spray when I cut it and again in 6 months or so. But not sure you really have to do this the second time.
Ofcorse it you debake and seal the whole stave you won't need to.
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You can never seal sapwood well enough to stop checking
But ya see Eric, thats just not my experience. My experience is that it is fine if you seal it good enough. Sometimes I only use one coat of glue. I have never had a problem with the sapwood checking, and I like to make alot of sapwood backed osage bows too. So I have to say that yes, you can. One thing that makes a difference is how you season em I would think. I season mine in my house. If they are just laying out in a barn all for years than yes you have alot of risk of checking no matter what.
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You have special osage Toomany. keep your hands on all of that and dont trade it away!
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i say cut it. Seal the ends with shellac and then get it home and split it into staves. Then just work through the process of getting them debarked. If its gonna be a while before you can bear down and do the grunt work of debarking then for sure spray with pesticide, other wise you will regret it. My thinking is this, you don't know if the tree will still be there later. Heck, one of us might stumble across it and then its gone. But you sure don't want to waste the opportunity.
Strike while the iron is hot and Carpe diem. Danny
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I don't think I have special osage, I think it's just dogma. I had altogether maybe 50 osage staves last year. All bark removed and sapwood sealed. Not a one of em checked on the sapwood, unless it was one I sold later on. But everyone one I kept are fine. I season mine inside my house though, where as most people season em in their garage, which undoubtedly can make a difference. But I can do that without too much worry for bugs or having to spray pesticide all in my house because I remove the bark and seal immediately. Leaving the bark on is just asking for bugs IMO.
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I say cut now. Osage only gets better with age.
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We are so lucky here in the UK to have little problem if any with bug damage.
We dont need bugs to eat the wood over here as the damp kills it in no time ::)
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We are so lucky here in the UK to have little problem if any with bug damage.
We dont need bugs to eat the wood over here as the damp kills it in no time ::)
2nd that :'(
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Osage sapwood in northern climates may very well withstand checking but it is a sure thing in an Alabama summer.
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I have had sapwood split within hours of removing bark up here, even on staves that where 6-8 months split.
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This past summer I got splits in my logs through the bark when it got really hot. That was new to me. The only staves I've peeled the bark and sealed the sapwood on split pretty quickly.
George
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Do all you guys season in a garage or outdoors? I season my staves in my house. Eric, I live in south western ohio, but we do get around 100 degrees in the summer, and we only have one room with air conditioning that is closed off from the rest of the house. Maybe your right Pearl Drums and I do have special osage, but I think that maybe seasoning them in my house has alot to do with it. I live in the ohio valley, which tends to trap in the humidity to a degree. I would bet all of these play a factor, but this has just been my experience. It sure seems like everyone else's is the opposite, so I guess I will count myself lucky like Pearl Drums said...
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I store all mine indoors (62-65 degrees year round) bark on until I build the bow. I seal the ends with deck stain and get zero splits.
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I haven't seasoned my staves in a climate controlled area like inside a house. I have used my basement, crawlspace, attic, car, garage, external shed, stacked outside in the sun and shade, drying box and shop. The sapwood checking was the same in all locations with the outside in the sun and attic being the worst choices.
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You guys realize if you told toomanyknots NOT to jump off a cliff because he would get hurt,that he wood do it anyways and try not to get hurt just to prove a steroetypical dogmatic common simple law wrong ;).....right daniel ;).... :laugh:
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what kind of spray are yall using for the bugs?
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Osage Outlaw are you saying our wives think we never have enough wood or that we always have more then we need? I am not saying I am just saying I am of the thought you can never have enough wood? >:D
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I guess the real question is that the tree, provided mother nature doesn't intervene, can stand and grow another 5-10-15 years grow from 10 to 20 inches in diameter. There is enough other Osage to get plenty to work, I just have never seen such a straight and clean piece before. If you all are lucky my wife will have me in that big freezer we have and collecting my pay checks before I get to it and it would be up for grabs. My opinion (which is ) leave it grow take a pic every 5 years to show the growth and harvest in 15 years. I would be 65 then and see what it is like and where all of this has gone since then. Doesn't seem like a long time but allot can happen in 15 years.
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As for bug spray, I used strong Diazinon and repeated every 6 months back when I left wood with the bark on, had no worm or borer damage.
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Osage Outlaw are you saying our wives think we never have enough wood or that we always have more then we need? I am not saying I am just saying I am of the thought you can never have enough wood? >:D
Quotes from the wife:
"Don't you have enough"
"Where are you going to put all those pieces"
"How many bows are you planning on building any way"
"I can barely open my car door in the garage because of your wood drying"
She's a good wife. She doesn't understand the addiction, but she tollerates it ;D