Removing Bark and Sealing Ends

[DennyK]

Gentlemen, It's been some time since I built bows. Anyhow a friend of mine has a nice pile of Osage logs. My question is can they be left whole for awhile or do they need to be staved out and ends and back wax sealed? Thanks!

[Bowjunkie]

Logs can act different, and be unpredictable. Some can be left whole for years with just the ends sealed and they're fine... while the next log tries to split itself apart. One will get destroyed by wood borers while one beside it doesn't.

In order to protect your bow wood in logs, get them up off of the ground, spray them with a powerful insecticide, and get them out of the sun, heat, wind, and weather. Do NOT cover them with a tarp or plastic. Get the best of them split and start removing bark and sapwood as you have time. Seal the ends and backs as they're exposed. I like to use shellac.

Logs will keep for months, but check on them. However, I generally split them, spray them with bug spray, and seal their ends right away, which leaves less to chance.

[DennyK]

Jeff, Will Do. Thank You So Much.

[Pat B]

I would at least split the log in half, get it in a protected area and seal the ends.
 You can also seal with diluted wood glue.

[Eric Krewson]

Just remember, if the bark comes off the sapwood has to as well, no amount of sealing will keep sapwood from checking. There are a few exceptions but every time I tried it I lost a stave to severe checking.

[John Scifres]

After too much heartbreak and disappointment, I never leave logs whole or outside anymore.  Priority one for me is to get them split into staves, get the bark and sapwood off, seal the stave with shellac and get them inside.  I don't cut more than I can process except in cases where the wood is coming down anyway.

I rely heavily on a bandsaw for this.   http://sticknstring.webs.com/roughout.htm

[DennyK]

Thanks Very Much Guys.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I, like John, learned the very hard way that hard work upfront is the only way to go. Peel and seal now. I brought home fourteen osage logs from a buddys farm. That was way too many to split, peel and seal. Many checked horribly as a result and had to get burned up.

[Eric Krewson]

I learned the same lesson, now I never put more osage on the ground than I can process in a couple of weeks.