drying time for osage

[cheech1]

i have a osage stave (hopefully) it might just end up fire wood it is 7ft long about 3-4in thick with a fair amount of reflex.
i would just like to know how long would i need to let it dry before try to work the wood it still has the bark on and is not split

[Pat B]

When was it cut? Once the bark and sapwood is removed and the back and ends are sealed you should be able to begin work on the stave in about 2 months. It may dry quicker than that depending on your weather conditions. Dryer weather, quicker drying...but not necessarily the best choice!
  You can take your reduced stave to floor tiller stage without overstressing it and it will dry even quicker.
  I have a 60" osage static recurve that I was shooting in less than 2 months after the tree was cut down. It took excess set and developed frets and I'm sure it was because I didn't give it enough time to cure out well. Even though it felt and sounded dry it was still too fresh to stress.

[SourOwl]

cheech1 - patience, my son - - - seriously, i have de-barked and got down to my one growth-ring on green osage, shellacked the heck out of the back and ends, then rough - tillered the belly and sides, set it in a corner of my shop for a month, and every week or so taking a little more off here a little off there - - when it was floor tillered, I put it under my bed for another month, then put it in my heat box at about 80 - 85 degrees for about four days.

finished tillering it, and it shoots fine; no string follow, plenty of "zap".  Pulls about 52# @28"; I never drew it past 28 inches, broke it in very slowly on the tillering tree (30 pulls at each 2 inches).

[DVSHUNTER]

mike is right. The process can be sped up in that way with good to great results.
 mike- hows the neck and back? It's good to hear from you.

[SourOwl]

DAVE - HAD THE STEEL PLATE PUT IN MY NECK, NOW WHEN I GO INTO A HARDWARE STORE ALL THE STUD FINDERS GO OFF - - AND I DRINK WD40 TO LUBRICATE UP MY SQUEEKY HEAD TURNING, BUT MY STRENGTH IS BACK TO ABOUT 75%.  I TRIED FOR A BUCK THIS YEAR BY LOW-CRAWLING ACROSS 75 YDS. OF FIELD, BUT WAS NARCED OFF BY BLUEJAYS.....ALL I GOT WAS VERY WET.  MIKE

[cheech1]

pat b i cut the osage about 6-8 months ago and have just sealed the cut ends it has been cureing over a cold wet winter and spring so it may not be dried out with the cold damp air.
sourowl ha ah patience is not one of best assets but i will keep waitng.

[George Tsoukalas]

Roughly 1 year per inch unless you rough it out and get the limbs bending  a fe winches then it will dry faster as SourOwl said. Just be sure you seal the back after you work it down to a growth ring. Jawge

[Pat B]

Bring the wood into a dry location for a few weeks then reduce it to floor tiller stage. It will dry faster like that.
  Even though I do it occasionally I don't recommend fast drying wood. A well seasoned osage stave will make a bow far superior to a fast dried, fresh cut one. I've made good bows with fresh cut wood but once I use a well seasoned piece I could tell the difference.

[scrub-buster]

Most of my staves are a year or two old.  I like to rough out a bow and put it on top of the entertainment center in the living room for a month or two before working on it.

[cheech1]

thanks for the advice and i will just have to be patient.

[Roy Steele]

I agree with GEORGE.I like to put a few staves back each year.I use to let mine season at least a year when I starter now it's 5 plus.I write year on the end.And season with bark on.
  I've been told when it comes to O'sage the older the better.I once got a corner fence post in Kanas and got 5 stave for it.I was told my the guy I was hunting on his great grandad have put it in the ground 103 years before.They all were great shooter.That was 16 years ago and I still have one of them.It only picked up 1/2" of string follow in all those years hav'nt shot it in a couple years.But there was a few years I sent 1000's of arrows through it.

[J. Holden]

So I need to bring this back to the top.  I got in touch with a village aborist.  He's going to cut a 4-6" round limb about 6-7' long.  Once he does that I was going to quarter the limb, seal the ends and start on it next year.  Do I de-bark it or let it sit?  I also didn't specify a live limb or a dead one.  Would a dead limb work?  I was so excited that he was willing to get me one I forgot all the specifics.

-Jeremy    

P.S.  Like I said, I plan on sealing the ends, buying a draw knife and reading "Hunting the Osage bow".  Sound like I'm on the right track?

[DVSHUNTER]

debark it and take of the sapwood. Practice going to the first summer growth ring. Those are the darker ones. The whiter ones will feel crunchier. Once there seal the whole back ( the part you chased the ring on )with shellac, wood glue, paint, any kind of moisture barrier and lay them flat with space between them and the floor. You can stand them up too, but flat is better imo. Then as george said wait a year per in. For faster drying work it to closer dimensions leaving enough thickness from you final ring to the belly. Go an inch or so on the limbs and then use the speed dring tactics above.

[J. Holden]

Thanks DVS!  A year per inch?  Are we talking length or width?  I'm assuming width of the back of the stave.  Right?  Other wise 72 years is a long time to wait...

-Jeremy  

[Don Drake]

I have purchased all of my staves off of E-bay and I am getting them for about $20 each.  The last two I received were already down to the growth ring and polyed.  Do I just sand the poly off or chase another ring?  The kid's bow I just did came the same way, but I didn't like the job that was on the ring so I did it again anyway.

My next project is a stave that the seller said was cut a year ago.  It has been taken down to one ring and polyed.  I got it for $10.

Thanks,
Don

[DVSHUNTER]

it's for the thickness of the stave.

don- if the ring left was chased well you could use it. I wouldn't. I would hate to have a bow blow because I wasn't sure about a ring. If I chase it I know how thick it is and how well it was chased. If it's a thick ring then you probably could sand off the poly and go... Or leave the poly on until final sanding for some moisture protection.

[Lee Slikkers]

Some good info here...the hardest part is the waiting