Is the Osage Goldmine Ruined?

[hova]

lol id call kenny or curt and tell em youll swap em this gorgeous stuff for some lams or something. i would only want one pair from the osage you got , and maybe a pair of lams for another bow. id call that  even , but im not a lam builder...

[highpoint forge]

Well shouldn't I strip off all my bark and junk and see what's left first? I have like 4-5 more billets that you can't lift alone. Gotta grab them with two hands to move/drag them. Am I ruining them by working with my small axe? Should I be using a draw knife or scraper?

[hova]

naw an ae is fine for getting thru the bug holes.

if this stick was mine , id hack into it to see how deep they go , and if its worthhless , then look into maybe lams. im not sure a riser , but you can get some use out of it...fer sher-herrrrrr.....


-hov

[John Scifres]

If you can't get below the bugs, osage makes great firewood  

Personally I'd make friends with someone who has a bandsaw.  You could alternatively split off the belly so as to have enough wood for a stave.  If the bugs are into that then it is trash.

[highpoint forge]

Well today I took one 4' piece down and no bugs whatsoever, the next 8' piece no bugs whatsoever. As you can see these are LARGE pieces, as I have pretty big hands. The long piece is too heavy for me to pick up. Several staves must live in these billets, as thick as they are. You guys are the experts though. I wish there was a more efficient way to remove the bark and sapwood.

   

   

[highpoint forge]

Also what do you guys mean by lams? Laminations? As in slice this stuff up thinly for laminations? That's a lot of lams....

[razorback]

Get yourself a drawknife and some way to clamp it. makes the hogging work easier.

[John Scifres]

Here's how I rough out a stave with a bandsaw. Sure saves on the joint pain when you are north of 40.

  Roughout Page 1

[highpoint forge]

That is more my speed John. I just need to get out to my inlaw's to use the shop equipment. I feel kinda guilty going at these billets with an axe but it's damn good exercise.

[highpoint forge]

Well today I decided to get ALL the bark off of the remaining larger half of the trunk. Lots of insect boreholes and nested ants, and it actually checked and split. I cut it up and chunked it, ants and all.

The second one was good all the way down. The third quarter had boreholes in and through it (pic was the one above showing boreholes) so I cut it into 2' sections & resealed for knife handle material.

What I am left with is two 8' billets and five 2' sections. I will deliver it all to my fatherinlaw soon. I think we will bandsaw the billets into staves.

It was tough chucking that other half but it was gone mostly and without power tools just too much work to salvage into useful pieces.