Oceanspray takedown, phase 1

[steve b.]

I'm drying out a bunch of OS for bowmaking in the fall and thought I'd take some pics of the takedown pieces in case I do a buildalong then.
Figured I'd might as well post some pics now to spark some chat about the project.  Let me know what you think.

These pieces are actually too big for what I'm doing but I figure too big is better than too small:

Bark on, Bark off, roughed out, worked down.....

[steve b.]

Gotta get the pith out of these green billets so they don't check so bad.  I had some success with some smaller bows where I cut into the handle to get the pith out with the idea that I'll fill the cut in later with glue.  The more material I can remove now the less likely they'll check and the faster they will dry.
I use the radial arm saw to cut just shy of deep enough to remove the pith then hand saw from there.

[Bryce]

That's all you got done today? Get those sleeve on there!

Lookin good buddy

[Weylin]

Go Steve! That's going to be awesome. That is also some beefy ocean spray! nice job seasoning it without checks.

[steve b.]

I try to control the drying out process by reducing wood mass and pith and by keeping them in the cool basement.  Still some pieces will begin checking if they have natural flaws in the wood  like splits and knots or if they are unusually massive or wet.  So I keep them together and covered up so the moisture leaves them more slowly.  So far, so good.  I check (no pun) them daily and deal with them individually if I see checks forming. 

Here's some roughed out bows and a bunch of billets and then the whole pile ready for bed:

[steve b.]

Man, you guys are fast.  I can't even get all the pics down before I'm hassled. 

Thanks Weylin.  The key is to get the bark off and pith out and cool it down.  After a couple weeks I can actually lay them out in the sun all day and no checking.

[Zion]

Those are some nice pieces of OS! wow!

[Pappy]

Looking good so far. Any problem with srinkage on the area for the take down sleeves,or do you leave then a little big till it dries ? I would think if you cut them to size before well seasoned the sleeves would be to large,just thinking out loud,I have done several take down but it was always from seasoned billets to start with. Good looking pile you have .

   Pappy

[Christian Soldier]

I echo what pappy said about giving yourself extra room for when the wood shrinks.

Looks good so far, really looking forward to seeing the finished product!

[Carson (CMB)]

Do you crawl in there with them at bed-time, or just leave them all alone down in the basement like a bunch of orphans?  Just ribbing you Steve, looks like your oeanspray gets pretty special treatment. 

[steve b.]

I agree with Pappy too.  These billets may warp and twist and shrink and split.  So yea, I'm leaving as much mass in the handle area as I dare and after a couple months of drying I'll put the sleeves on.

Geez Carson, its not like they are osage staves, which are upstairs watching TV right now. 

[Don Case]

This is perfect timing! I have a stave in the garage that I was babying along to slow down the drying and now I see you ripping the bark off and getting to it. I was being overcautious about seasoning I think. I've got work to do. I hope you don't mind a million questions. The first being the average temperature and RH in your area. I'm still a little gun shy about checking. Around here the temp is in the 70-80 and the RH is 50 in the day and 80 at night. Well except for the last couple of days the RH has been 100%   I will be following this thread very closely
Thanks
Don

[4dog]

Looking good, but i would like specs on that way cool vice you got holding them there staves, i could really use one of those.   

[bow101]

My luck so far with Ocean spray has been somewhat futile.  It takes forever and a day to season, I have found that if you work it to soon and don't seal it right-away it checks real quick.  Looking forward to see how it turns out..

[steve b.]

Don, I don't have alot of OS experience and I don't want to encourage you to do something that might ruin your stave.  I'm in Portland, OR. 
The typical OS stave that I have seen is not much over one inch wide.  With all of those that I have seen, with the bark and pith removed, and slow drying for the first week or so, I could put the stave in the heat of woodstove or sun and it would not check. 

I cut a stave in March and was shooting it in April.  But I left the pith in the handle and it checked there.  It took very little set but if it was a keeper bow I would let it dry another month at least.

I have never seen a stave that didn't check when the ends were sealed and the bark left on.  Especially the larger staves that have defects in the wood.  They will check under and through the bark. 

Obviously others have different experience.  But I can't stand waiting months for a stave to dry with bark on only to pick it up one day to find its checked anyway.  So I started peeling and watching and at any sign of checking I would seal it up, wait a month, then remove the sealant and watch it some more.

My latest experiment is to not seal at all but to keep them covered.