Osage Staves

[Indiana]

When hurricane Ike came through Indiana (that sure sounds weird!) it tore up the woods pretty bad.  There were three nice osage orange trees that fell across our road that cut 8ftish sections out of.  They are good straight logs (for the most part) and one is perfectly straight with no apparent knots in it.  I don't have measurements of the diameter/circumfrence (maybe 10-12 iinch diameter??  Not for sure though) but they are all good sizes and I can get several bow staves out of it.

My question is are osage bow staves worth anything?  I am either going to split these into staves or take them to the sawmill with my other load.  I may keep one to try make a bow myself, but how do I split staves?  What should I do to them while drying them?  Any tips?

Thanks

[jbullard1]

Dip the ends of the boards/staves in melted wax or parrifin

[snake eyes]

Indiana,
           If he doesn't reply here,you may want to PM
Fletcher. He is more than willing to share his expertise on
the subject. Also big into BSA which I am sure you know a
bit about.
snake-eyes

[Fletcher]

Yes the Osage is valuable.  I will buy or trade for a few if you like.  You can check the net by Google or Yahoo on traditional archery or bow staves.

Splitting is not easy on Osage, but can be done with a good ax, a maul and some wedges.

The wood will split down the grain reasonably well.

An 8" log will have a circumference of about 25"  Because of the twisty grain this should yeild 6 good working staves.  A Straight grain log like Hickory or Ash might yield 8 staves.

Start by splitting the log in half as best you can.  This will be the toughest split.  The log should be cut to about 74" to 76" long with as few knots as possible and close to the same diameter at each end.  You may get two of these logs from a single tree before the limb knots become an issue.

Once you have the log split, split each of those in thirds.
Then you add time but also value and decrease shipping weight by shaving the bark without cutting into the sapwood.  Also split off the 'V' part of the wedge where that is waste wood anyway.  Let me try to do a picture text for the finished look:

~~~~~~~~ 4"
~~~~-------------------------  Sapwood
~~~~------------------------/
~~~~~*****************/  3"   End View
~~~~~~***************/  <--  Heartwood
~~~~~~~_______________/
~~~~~~~~~2.5"


When done, You can trim off either end that may be splitting and coat with parrafin wax

Overall finished length should be about 72"  Stave can be as short as 66" and still yield good bows.

A 10" log will yield 8 staves of about the same size.  That would be splitting the log in half, than each piece in half, than each in half again.  Finish as above.

Do some checking on the web and then PM me about sale or trade.

Fletch

ps  I had to edit and put some junk in the left margin and middle to preserve the pictogram.  The system deleted my spaces.

How do you add "start" spaces and preserve them?

[TradGuy]

osage orange is awsome bow wood I have carved several flatbows from it. coat the ends of the logs asap with a sealer, all fresh cut wood loses moisture out the cut ends of the log very rapidly and will check, making the wood basically useless for any type of bow. splitting the the logs is ideal but difficult to do.
a 1"-2" cut with a saw along the length of the log can be a starting point to split it out it will take a lot of wedges and persistence. have fun  

[Christiaan]

I would like to see how you build a bow from scratch.  I suppose there must be some kind of tutorial on the web somewhere.

[TradGuy]

There is a series of books  called
The Traditional Bowyer's bible and The bent stick by paul comstock ,there is quite a bit of material out there if you know what you're  looking for. I know of a web site that has infor mation as well.
 good luck

[Bald Mountain Man]

The October/November 2008 issue of Primitive Archer magazine has an article on page 10 titled "Cutting Your Own Bow Wood". The auther gives quite a good description of how he makes the staves & there are several pictures showing the log he started with up to a stack of staves in the drying shed.

[Indiana]

Hey!  Thanks for the heads up.  I'm going to go pick up that issue today.

[Eric Krewson]

Looking back through all these interesting threads, several questions about handling osage once cut.

I have cut more osage trees than I can remember, ruined a bunch of osage by not treating it properly once I had it on the ground.

Here is how to do it right;

#1, don't cut more osage than you can handle, one tree at a time works for me. I have put so much osage on the ground in my early years that I was overwhelmed. I personally hit a wall after a month or so of non-stop splitting and draw knifing. At this point I don't want to see another piece of osage for a few months.

#2, seal the ends as soon as you get it on the ground, shellac is the best sealer.

#3, split staves are the best but if you have a bigger trunk than you can handle cut the trunk in half length wise with your chainsaw and split staves out of the halves.

#4, Never, I mean NEVER remove the bark without removing the sapwood as well. The sapwood dries at a different rate than the heart wood and will check while you are watching it on a warm day. You can leave the bark on while your wood dries with no problems but if you take it off you have to take the sapwood off as well.  You need to seal the backs of your staves with 3 or 4 coats of shellac after you remove the bark and sapwood. If you only remove the bark no amount sealer will keep the back from checking.

#5, if you choose to leave the bark on your staves you must spray the bark with a strong bug killer. Wood wasp larva eggs are already in the bark, they will start munching as soon as the tree hits the ground. The spray will repel powder post beetles as well, these little rascals are the most destructive to osage. Wood wasp larva rarely get too deep into the heart wood unless the wood is left for several years. Powder post beetles go in the top of a log and come out the bottom, turning a stave into firewood in the process.

Here is what powder post beetles do to a log;



#6, It has been my experience that osage does not tolerate speed drying well without checking. Attics, enclosed sheds in the summer or green wood put in a drying box are bad storage choices. I have a pinless moisture meeter that is very accurate and have found that any osage I put in my drying box that is more than 16% MC will get drying checks even a a low temp setting.

[MedicineSoldier]

Christiaan,

You might like taking a look at this youtube video.  The link is part 1 of making a primitive bow.  There are 3 more that complete the build which you can find on the other video links on the page.



Medicine Soldier

[rickevans]

Good advice here....the best book on the subject of osage from tree to finished bow is by a friend of mine, Mr. Dean Torges. Get a copy of "Hunting the Osage Bow" either from Three rivers Archery in Indiana or from Dean himself (Google him) if you get it from Dean, tell him I send greetings.

[Eric Krewson]

I never ruined another piece of osage after I bought Dean's book and followed his directions for handling osage. His book in the only one out there that one could read and complete an osage bow, the rest leave parts of the process out. I have yet to watch a video( I have bought just about all that are out there) that was complete enough to watch, follow step by step, and complete a bow, they all leave major steps or explanations out.