Splitting Logs with Off-Center Growth Rings

[DesM8]

Hey guys, starting to think about doing the stave split out on this osage. At the base of the tree the central growth rings are way off center.  By the time you get out to the other end of the log, the rings are more centrally aligned.  Would you guys start a split at the central pith at the base, or more in the actual middle of the log?  I'm worried that starting in the actual middle of the log is going to end up in the split running way off to the side by the time I get to the other end.

[bucknut]

Being a woodworker I assume you have a bandsaw.  If so, I would just saw it personally.  Others may have a differing opinion.

[DesM8]

I do, but unfortunately its kind of a piece of crap    Its just a cheap little Wen, its fine for small detail jobs... definitely not made for this heavy of work.  Used to have a huge old cast-base one that was my step-grandfathers... too many moves though, unfortunately it got sold a good while back. 

I'd love to find one like that again on craigslist or FB marketplace... I've got my eyes out.

[Mad Max]

split it from center of the half.
FYI--You have to split all sections in half, You can't split into 3rd's, always half's.
If your 1/4 section is wide enough for 2 staves split a belly stave 1st (if your stave is deep enough) then split in half.

[DesM8]

Ended up splitting the other tree I had today, you can sorta see it on the right side of that pic... or in the old post when I found the wood originally.

This tree had a lot more 'character' to it than the one I was asking about in this post.  I don't think the staves look toooo horrible to be honest.  Nothing some heat cant fix I'm guessing.  Got the bark and sapwood off one and sealed the back with glue/water.  A lot more work ahead lol.

The stave on the left almost looks primed for a R/D bow though!

[Roy from Pa]

Perfect Osage staves/logs/trees are hard to find at times.
If you have a choice in the future, look for trees that have the bark running straight up the tree and knot free and limb free.
Trees that have the bark twisting around the tree like a Barber shop pole will have the grain twisted inside the tree also, which is not good. A lot of times if you don't have a 6 foot good section but 3 feet of it are nice, then you can always do a Z splice at the handle and have a nice stave then made from sister billets.
I don't build stave selfbows out of my Osage, I cut out 3 foot boards like a 2 x 1" furring  strip and z splice them together then back the bow with bamboo or hickory. I even do trilams by adding another core wood in the center.

[DesM8]

That purple heart is really pretty in that lamination, I like the color combo!  I may try something like that in the future for sure.  I haven't messed with any lamination techniques so far, but I probably will.  Bamboo is a pretty amazing material in general and I'd definitely like to try some bows with it.  Seems like a thickness sander would be really nice to have to do all the tapered lams I see you guys talking about. When you do a 2 lam bamboo/hickory backed osage do you taper them beforehand or just tiller after glue-up?

The log I haven't split into staves yet is a lot straighter and has almost no limbs, hopefully those staves will come out a lot cleaner despite the off center pith.  As far as tree selection goes, I basically just took what I could get and got lucky I didn't drive out there for nothing!  There's not much osage around here and those trees were free as long as I cut them and hauled them off.  I was really worried they'd be completely unusable because all I had was an extremely blurry picture to go off. 

I really like you're suggestion of the z splice to deal with shorter sections though.  Have you done something like that for a takedown style?