drying an osage stave

[wolfshadow]

Friends,
I have an osage stave that was sealed and cured for 5 years with bark on. I started stripping bark and sapwood last year but had to abandon the project due to health, etc., now back at it. It has stayed sealed on the ends. Any tricks for getting the sapwood off? Should I rough out the shape, seal it and bring it inside for more curing?

[snapper1d]

The thing is probably pretty dry after 5 years.If you have a small side grinder you could get a flap disc for it.I have used these a lot and they work good.

[Pat B]

I just got finished doing it. I used a draw knife and worked(and I mean worked) it off. It is not an easy job but its the way I di it.
 Even though he stave is probably dry be sure to seal the back once it is exposed. I've had 10 year old staves check after exposing the back.

[Mad Max]

Chase a ring like pat said and seal the back,Rough it out
Keep it inside the house and weight it every couple of days, keep a log on the weights.


PAT can you get one to dry for heat bending the tips??
 I think so.

[Pat B]

Osage is so oily I don't think you can get it too dry with ordinary drying techniques.
Most of the osage staves I work on are 5 to 10 years old. With drastic bends I have had the belly of a recurve crack when using dry heat for bending. I leave the curve area on the thick side and reduce them when I finish the tips. Usually a little super glue in the cracks works, generally I'll scrape below the cracks when final shaping the tips and in a few instances I've had to add underlays for support...but never had a failure at the curves.
  Wolfshadow, I'd get to a good, clean back ring, draw out my bow shape and reduce to that shape, get it to floor tiller stage and be sure the back and ends are sealed before setting it aside it to dry.
 It will probably be ready to tiller when you get it to floor tiller stage but you will have to be the judge of that.

[Brett Leinmiller]

I cut a lot of Osage and with my new interest in building bows I'm going to be looking for good bow material. I hate to wait 5 or 10 years though, is there any way to speed up the drying process? For example, I cut a 10 inch log and split it in 4 or 5 pieces. With that inner wood exposed, will these pieces still need 5 or 10 years to dry?

[bigbob2]

From my very limited knowledge I think most timbers dry at about 1''thickness per year? So if so, and the piece was 4'' thick it should take two years being 2'' in from each side.Some one else can jump on me and advise otherwise if I'm talking through my hat.

[Pat B]

You can quick dry osage but I don't recommend it. A few years ago I built a 60" osage static recurve selfbow from a stave that was 1 month off the stump when I bought it. A month later the bow was built. It felt like dry wood, it worked like dry wood but it took set and fretted along the belly on both limbs. Other pieces of that same batch made very good bows but they were seasoned for at lease a year.
 Whitewood can be well dried in a couple of months but not osage.

[Eric Krewson]

If your stave is pretty thick you can split off the bark, sapwood and a ring or two of heartwood and still have plenty of wood for a bow.

I don't have a picture of me doing so but after I split off this belly stave I did the same to get rid of this extra thick sapwood.

 

[Brett Leinmiller]

Thanks guys, can't wait to go "firewood" cutting again. At the time I asked these questions I'd forgot that I have the first 3 volumes of the Bowyers Bible at home. For anyone else interested in this and other selfbow related threads, these books are a great resource.

[J.F. Miller]

I take green staves down to heavy bow blanks as soon as humanly possible after cutting. remove bark and sapwood, establish the back of your bow, seal the back and ends with shellac, remove excess belly wood and put in a dry place out of the wind for a month or two to stabilize, then you can begin to force dry by putting in hotbox, in your attic or whatever.