osage laminations

[stringstretcher]

Once a tree is cut and sawn by a sawmill to say a thickness of 3 1/2 boards, with the bark still on the edges, how long should you air dry those boards before working them up into laminations. I have some that was cut last March, and we took a 45 inch piece of it yesterday and planed it down to size and thickness, but it feels like it is wet.  Just wondering what you guys do when sawing lumber for laminations, the process of drying it before working it up?

[SEMO_HUNTER]

You would think that a year would be more than enough time to dry, but I don't have any experience with Osage lumber either. Staves can be made into a bow in as little as a few months by working them down close to a basic bow blank, then they dry much quicker.

Your 3.5" boards sound like they would be similar to a stave?

[stringstretcher]

Yes, you could get some billets out of them to make staves, but with the bend in the board, you could not get full length staves.

[Art B]

Dry is one thing, seasoning process is another Charles. Kinda like making arrows from a dry, but still green board. They won't stay straight, and often show erratic behavior. Give those same arrows a year or two of seasoning and they have the potential of being tack drivers. Same with bow wood........Art

[Hootsbow]

I've always took my green lumber and sawed it up into rough lam. blanks like 3/16 thick or so and then hack it using 16d nails every 6 ins. or so keeping your nails lined up from top to bottom so it would'nt warp between nails and strap it together with intertube bands to keep presure on them, they dry alot quicker this way and don't check as bad as drying in larger blocks,just make sure you seal the ends of your board before sawing to protect the ends from checking, I've had good luck doing this way, 8/4 riser mat. just takes a long time to air dry to usable mat. 2 years or so. Lee

[Jack Denbow]

I have always heard 1 year per inch for drying to use in furniture making. Like hoots said above I would saw it up thinner. After it is dry I would keep it indoors for a good while before using it for laminations.

[TimB]

Could you not dry it faster by other means, like a kiln or oven? Granted it would have to be a big oven, but I'm sure something could be DIY'ed to do the job.

Sorry if that's a silly question, I've never built a bow but have always wanted to.