Dano, bjhansen, and Chisler. Osagetree, I think there are a couple of reasons. I had to heat both limbs from dade to tip to get the string even on the handle-kind of an indirect heat treating. Also, this was a very superior piece of osage. I remember reading that Jim Hamm said the darker colored osage is much better wood. Thanks, Paul. It was a pretty difficult tiller because of that do dad in the upper limb. I got a different tiller picture from each of the sides. Actually, the ring I chased was pretty thin at about 1/16 in. The thicker rings were on the inside but I couldn't go to them because the stave was not that thick to start. Thnaks, DVS. Jawge