tips for choosing an osage stave

[osagejack]

not sure all details about shellac I am sure someone on here can explain,, but I only use one coat of shellac,,you could probably water proof wood with more coats,,i have used this on many thousands of osage staves,,and my success rate runs about 98 out of 100,,

[osagejack]

shellac is also good because you can steam with it and not have any problems,,

[osagejack]

some more tips I thought of is make sure the staves you are looking at have  date written on them,,really hard to remember when you cut staves,,  another must is that they have a price,written on the staves,,you would not go to the market fill your shopping cart full of stuff with out knowing what the asking price is,,,,i also tend to mark state  I cut it,,  also just because the wood looks old,it may not osage will darken in a week in the sun,,cut into it with a pocket knife on the belly side make sure color is still dark,,  mike

[Joec123able]

My tip for choosing an Osage stave: when your looking for an Osage stave you don't want straight if your stave is straight its best to throw it out lol your gonna wanna look for a stave that twisted 360 degrees full of knots and doesn't have one inch of straightness. Hope this helps