D-bow question

[pjsnell]

With inspiration from Mickey Lotz' D-bow article from PA magazine, I cut down a small (4-5" diameter) ash tree and split it in half.  I have three decent staves to work with, and the rest I'll try to split and plane into shafts.

I have one stave roughed out to about 2 inches square and 75 inches long.  

Here's the question: should I remove the bark and rough the bow out, or should I seal the ends and let it season the way it is?  How long should it season for?

Thanks!

[Pat B]

I would remove the bark and immediately seal the back and ends. Once you do that go ahead and take it down to near bow dementions. It will dry quicker. You can even get it to about 4" of floot tiller without causing any stress problems. I like spray shellac for sealing wood. It goes down quick, dries fast and is easy to remove later.
  With the other staves I'd leave them to season as they are. As far as how long, I go by sound and feel so the time is hard to say but this time of year wood seems to dry quicker than in the summer.   Pat