sapwood on osage

[bradsmith2010]

I was having a conversation with Mickey Miller bow making friend in Texas,, and he had met some bow makers at some event that insisted that bows with sap wood on osage were superior,, well I feel like a fine bow can be made with the sap wood on,, but for me  I take it off,, I have made bows with the sap wood on because there was not enough wood to make the bow otherwise,, but in general I prefer a stave without the sap wood,,and have never seen any proof that leaving the sap wood on will make a superior Bow,,,,

[Pat B]

I'd say all heartwood osage makes a superior bow but a little sapwood makes an acceptable bow.

[Deerhunter21]

I like the look of an Osage bow with sapwood over all heartwood but I agree with pat on the performance

[bradsmith2010]

I have heard the sap wood close to the heartwood,, is almost turning to heartwood,, so maybe a very thin layer might be almost like heartwood,,

[George Tsoukalas]

I have only left sapwood when there was not enough heartwood for osage and black locust. I do get as close as I can to the heartwood. Jawge

[Hamish]

Sap/heart looks nice, but all heartwood for ultimate durability and rot resistance.

You also need to take more preventative measures when cutting, preparing and seasoning osage with sapwood.

[Jim Davis]

I think it would take a lot more trials to have a sample big enough to be meaningful.

Also, the sapwood is usually too thick  to leave it all, so one needs to work through a few rings anyway.

I have made a couple with sapwood left on, but I missed weight on one because I just plain made it too thin. I was after a 25# bow and rarely make them that light. I just misguessed on the thickness from the  get-go.

I will try some more with sapwood, because some of my billets have rings the thickness of paper, or less,  and working to one ring would mean  doing the work while looking through a microscope. 

[bassman211]

With  white woods no chasing rings for me. With yellow woods I always chase to a heart wood ring, and if I can't I sinew back it. I suppose it could be done the opposite way, and still get a good bow. As far as one being superior to the other