fresh-cut osage

[cailean]

  Hi Folks,

  I have a fresh-cut log of Osage, (felled yesterday), I have 2 questions about it so far...lol.
First... I'm wondering if it's best to leave the bark on until dry or peel it off now while it's green?.
Second...does the sapwood need to come off or can it be left on for a nice contrast to the finished bow?.

   tyvm for your time and expertize as always.
   Cailean

[MWirwicki]

Leave the bark on.  Leave the sapwood on.  Split the log into quarters (at least) and seal the log ends with glue, old wood finish or even old paint.  Let season at least a year before working.

[Will H]

I agree with matt. The only thing I would add is to treat the bark with a strong pesticide that kills wood boarers. And I prefer to seal the ends with wax but glue works real well 2. Just make sure if you use something other than wax you put a healthy coat or two on

[Carson (CMB)]

Like Matt said.  But if the itch is really getting to you, try the Torges approach to rapid drying.  It is in his book Hunting the Osage Bow.  In general, it involves splitting, letting it dry for a month or two. Rough out a bow. Seal it.  Steam it and shape it on a caul, then dry it in a hot box for several weeks.

[osage outlaw]

I like to split the log and remove the bark and sapwood.  It takes up a little less storage room, its cleaner, you don't have to worry about bugs, and when you are ready to make a bow, its already done and ready to go.  If you do remove the bark and sapwood, seal the backs of the staves just like you sealed the ends. 
It doesn't matter a whole lot either way you go.  Both will work fine.  There is more than one way to skin a cat or in this matter, an osage log. 

[Sidewinder]

I like to do it the way Osage Outlaw said it because I have less work to do later when I am ready to work the stave into a bow. I also think you can see the idoicincricies on the back of the stave better when selecting the next stave to be made into a bow. I use shellac like Dean torges recommends because I think his logic is sound. I don't do everything Dean says when it comes to making a bow because I'm hard headed about the simplest things, but he has alot of good bow building wisdom that helps alot. If the staves are plenty thick I don't leave the sapwood on because even though the sapwood on osage is better than most whitewoods heartwood its still not as dense as the heartwood so why leave it. I agree the contrast can be cool looking but the bare back of an osage bow looks so nice when its done right, I just don't bother with the sapwood.

Congrats on your harvest by the way.   Danny

[stringstretcher]

What Matt and Will said is great.  But, and this is a huge but.  If for some reason you can not get to the wood for a long period of time, you have greater chances of getting bugs in it when the bark is left on.  I almost lost 30 plus staves because of an illness that would not let me get to the wood, and it laid on the ground with the bark on for a year.  It was heart breaking.  Unless I have a controled climate enclosure to put them out of the elements, and about 50 gallons of insecticide, never again for this old boy, will I leave the bark, sapwood and unsealed backs again.

[PEARL DRUMS]

There, that should clear things up!

The key to having bow wood available is to have plenty so you can sort around bugs, checks, cracks and twists. If you get 15 splits, dont expect 15 opportunities at a bow. Keep cutting, keep splitting and keep collecting no matter what route to preserve them you chose..

[osagejack]

can u post us a pic  I know we never tire of looking at osage

[Gus]

I I like what Osage Outlaw and Sidwinder said on the Topic...

But Stringstretcher hit the X-Ring for me.
You don't have to loose too many FAT Ringed Staves that you shed Blood, Sweat and Tears to
harvest to Danged Dirty Bores, to see the value of skinning and sealing your staves.
Bug Spray wears off after a while.

I had five Beautiful Fat Ringed staves that we're a Total Loss.
And wound up loosing Too Many FAT Rings, working down under Bore Damage on a number of other
staves. And had to Cut Down quite a few otherwise Beautiful staves into billets because of Bloody Bug
Damage.

In the end it is A Lot less work over all to skin and seal your staves up front.
At least in my neck of the woods...

I'm with you Stringstretcher... "Never Again!".   

-gus

[osage outlaw]

I cut one osage tree and left the bark on after I split it up.  I went to grab a stave about a year later and the bark had slipped on it.  The bark had came off in one big piece leaving the sapwood exposed.  It checked and split all over.  About half the staves from that tree did the same thing.  Watching a pile of hard earned staves burning is rather frustrating.  That is another reason I remove the bark and sapwood.  4 layers of polyurethane never slips.

[okie64]

I do mine like Matt and Will suggested but I do keep all my staves inside my shop out of the elements. Like double-0 said theres more than one way to skin a stave.

[tom sawyer]

I'd hog off the bark and sapwood.  For one thing bark is a great moisture barrier so the wood won't dry nearly as fast.  For another, it harbors bugs that will come alive in the spring.  For another thing, I've seen wood check under the bark on the ends of a log thats been sealed on the ends.  So for those reasons I always peel down to heartwood, and seal the back and ends before storage.

[soy]

Never again will I leave the bark on Lost a whole lot to the borders Strip the bark and the sap wood Seal the back in the ends And you don't have to worry about the bugs

[SLIMBOB]

I do like, Matt, Will, Carson, OO, Danny, Gus, Okie and Tom Sawyer.  Depends on how much time I have.  Bark on stored in my shop, I have very little bug damage on Osage.  Damn Powder Post beetles find my Hackberry inside or out however.