underside of osage branch?

[k-hat]

i've got some 4inch diameter osage branches i cut from a monster tree that fell a couple years ago.  One of the branches has done this after splitting in half:  one side reflexed and one side deflexed.  I don't remember which was top or bottom, though i suspect that the reflexed side would have been the top.   Will the deflexed one make a decent stave even with the back the more compressiony side?  thought about making it a r/d profile.   Or should i make a backwards bow like i saw someone do?

[John Scifres]

Whichever one has the thicker rings is probably the bottom.  It has likely dried into deflex.

It will make a decent bow in the conventional way.  It well also make a decent bow in the backwards way.  That's a little trickier though.  Make sure and pay a great deal of attention to pins and knot as they can often go across the grain on what is essentially an edge grained stave.

[k-hat]

Ok, thanks for the input John.  Fortunately, this one is very clean as far as knots/pins go.  

This is a picture of the branches i cut.  The two on the left are sisters, reflexed from top side and deflexed from bottom side (it may be firewood).  The one on the far right is the one in mind, it's the bottom side of a different branch.