Jackpot, now what!?

[k-hat]

Ok, so i been passing this big fallen tree for weeks now, thinking from a distance it was some kind of oak (ok, i didn't get the tree id badge in boy scouts. . .  wait, i wasn't even in boy scouts!).




 So here's what i found on closer inspection.  Is that a horseapple i see!!!!!?   (u may not be able to see any, but i did!)




And here's some of the damage done on the way home from work after i stopped at depot and rented a chainsaw and snagged and ripped my nice pants on a limb(i was gonna go home and change first, but couldn't help myself!)



They are all around 70 - 80" in length, 6-10" diameter:




So now i've got all this osage, but i hadn't brushed up on what to do once harvesting (storing and protecting.  I loaned my TBB to a friend the other day).  Are these pieces good as i think they are??  I plan on going back for more tomorrow before the city comes and cleans it all out.  Worth trying for the 24" trunk?  I'm still reeling in shock at this find.

[R H Clark]

I'm fairly new at this too.The one thing I can tell you for sure is the real work starts now. I just cut some Osage and after a lot of reading there seems to be two schools of thought here. Some leave the bark and sap wood on,it has to be both or none.Some remove the bark and sap wood and seal the backs with shellac.For sure seal the ends now,as in an hour ago. Some say shellac to seal,some use canning wax on the ends ,some tight bond III.I've also heard that TBIII is better for the backs.

You also want to split the pieces into staves if you remove the bark and sap wood or not.Look at the ends and try to split for the best staves with wide rings all the way across the stave.If you leave the bark on you need to spray it with bug killer.Store any staves out of the wind rain and sun.

I'm interested to hear what the real experts have to say as I am trying to learn as much as possible.I am removing the bark and sap wood on mine as a good friend tells me it is the best way to keep it from checking.It's going to take a lot of work and time though to get through that stack.

[Justin Snyder]

Seal the ends or it will all be firewood by the weekend. Split it into halves as soon as possible (bigger pieces split into quarters). Leave the bark on or take the bark and sapwood off then seal the back. The 24" log would be great, but you will want to take a hammer and wedges with you or it will be tricky to load.

[k-hat]

Thanks guys, so much for my shower!  I'll get on those ends and take care of the rest this weekend.  Think i saw someone say they mix the tb3 with water?

[johnston]

Stix you got my mailing address?

Lane

[Eric Krewson]

I have cut a lot of osage over the years. If I had access to any other osage I would pass on that tree, if I had no osage I would have pulled that tree out of a brush pile just to have some.

Looks mostly like billet wood to me. All the protruding limbs complicate things a bit for staves. I like my billets at least 36" long and preferably 40+ inches.

Buy a qt of shellac at Lowe's for sealing, nothing works better. Spray the bark with bug killer if you plan on leaving it on. You must take the bark and sapwood off at the same time, leave the sapwood and your wood will check while you are watching it. Store the wood in the shade, it won't dry much unless you quarter the logs.

[crooketarrow]

   I only use the log section (no forks or limbs) although some limbs will hold bow. But you can uselly get billets. I've sealed the ends with everything. I still have a couple osage stave I sealed with spray paint thats over 20 years old. I uselly use white glue if it's handy. All you want to do is to stop the moisture or at least slow it down slower than the back of the stave.
   I cut mine 80 inchs long and then cut them off the lenth I need. I also leave them long because I like to ad my own reflex and the longer the stave the less weight you need to reflex them. If there real nice stave's and I have the time I'll cut the stave down to simi bow form take it down to a ring,(uselly the back of the stave if possable) seal the whole bow and then ad my reflex.  If you leave the bark on get some pestside form lowes and spray it and spray them again and month on so later.
  I agree with ERIC here maybe a couple staves in that reflexed mid part unless you want billets or like he says and you can't get anything else I look else where. But it's free and there's a bow in every peice of wood if your want to let it out.

[toomanyknots]

I have been cutting osage recently and only removing the bark and sealing over the sapwood and ends with titebond 3. I can tell you that alot of pieces haven't checked at all along the sapwood, and most won't check on the main portion of the back, or of the peices that I have got recently. Takes 3 or 4 layers of tb3 on the ends and at least 2 on the back to seal good. But if they start checking on the end, it will go down the back and into the sapwood. It's always more likely to check at a knot, and always of course at the ends. But I totally believe everyones advice to remove sapwood soon. Almost everybody on here probably has more experience than me with osage. I haven't had any of these staves over 3 or 4 months anyway so who knows what il happen, they might all get ruined if I don't get the sapwood off soon enough. The sapwood does check super fast if you don't get something on it either the day or next day you cut it. I mean 2 days and it will be checked into the heartwood, so waiting till the next day is as long as you can wait really. I like to wait till the next day for a little bit of moisture to leave the back, but not enough to start checking. It's just usually soakin wet right after the bark is removed. The checks start as black lines on the sapwood I have realized (with the stuff I got anyway, may be different for you), and if I let them go with out sealing em they spread, get longer and darker and then start to turn into cracks. The lines usually start at the ends, and rarely in the middle.