Osage stave width?

[Fletcher]

My bow club has an osage tree that is about to come down so I'm gonna do a preemptive strike and fell it.  It is about 12" dia and looks straight, pretty clean and no twist for at least 12 feet.  I have no idea what the wood is going to look like inside.  My question is: how wide should I leave the staves when I split them out?  Also, if it looks like I can get a belly split, how much thickness do I need to leave for the main stave?

I plan to build flat bows and would rather get a few good staves than a bunch that were too narrow or small.  Thanks for the help.

[Eric Krewson]

I like my staves 3" across the back. On a belly split I will go for 1 1/2" of thickness on the main stave and glue on some extra handle material if I need to.

[J.F. Miller]

same here.

[Pat B]

Same.   You can split it in half or in quarters for ease of transport then reduce it more later.
 If you leave the bark on treat it with insecticide to prevent wood bores or remove the bark and sapwood and seal the back and ends. Seal the ends no matter what. Watered down carpenters glue is cheap and easy for a sealer.

[Eric Krewson]

One more thing; it is best to have a ring chased and see what you are dealing with on the back of the main stave before you belly split. Sometimes you find a problem on the back that makes you go down a few more rings. If your stave is too thin, sometimes it's toast. I have lost more than a few staves by being greedy, shoot for two or three staves and get firewood.

On big logs you may not have to chase a ring if you have plenty of thickness to start with.