how to choose an osage stave

[osagejack]

just wandering what everyone looks for in osage,,   what matters the most? does it need to be straight,,does it have to have thick rings,,or thin,,does it need to grow in a river bottom,,in a valley out of wind,,must not have any twist,, just wandering  mike

[SLIMBOB]

It's all good.  I used to look for the longest straightest limbs or trunks.  Not any more.  Well, no, I still like the long straight ones, but I like the knotty crooked as well.  I just avoid spiral grain (bark), other than that, can I see a bow in there.

[Gsulfridge]

I'm still a rookie, so I like straight, clean, and wide rings.

[osagejack]

after a while your boundries with osage will expand,,every year I go back to farms I have cut on for 20years,,and get trees that I have passed over for years and wonder why I haven't cut them before,,i look for quality wood good late wood ratio,, I don't worry about anything else, not knots ,holes,or twist,,everything else can be over come,, but if you start with poor quality wood,,you will end with poor quality wood,,i try to approach every tree , every stave, every bow as the one of a kind that they are,, mike

[Parnell]

I'm at the point now where if I've got to make an Osage bow for someone I want a nice clean piece.  For myself, I want funky.  I'm working on a piece that was a "make me an offer" stave.  It's got a big knot, pin holes, a kink, thicker rings running to thin rings, etc. 
I'm enjoying this piece of Osage the most of any I've done, so far.  We'll see if it makes a bow.

I made a bow from a piece of "red" osage over the past year.  I loved that stave and bow.  Made a Cheyenne tribe replica.  It shot super and was just beautiful wood.

I'll be on the lookout for another "red" stave.

[osagejack]

I have seen a few red staves,,they are rare,,the purdyest osage  I have ever seen was green,,it was some old fence post buried for years dug up by a dozer,,i guess the minerals in the ground reacted with the wood,,some how.

[Badly Bent]

I like good ring ratio and wood color. Rings don't have to be thick just good early to late wood combo and I like the darker not so yellow osage, seems denser to me. My best osage bows so far have come from well seasoned, thin ringed, darker wood. Although
I have to qualify my preference by saying I don't believe I've ever had any of that real thick ringed stuff to work before.

[soy]

good early too late ratio!!!everything else is welcome

[DavidV]

I've found as few staves that had red in them, I think it's compression wood. I hit some with a hatchet and it sounded like metal on metal.

[Pat B]

I just pick through the stack til one of them speaks to me.    With osage almost anything can be manipulated with a little heat and pressure so I let the stave choose me.

[Eric Krewson]

Very thin early wood rings, about 1/4" late wood, darker wood with a lot of mass weight after drying. This wood always makes a very durable, low set bow.