Looking for an osage stave

[RJonesRCRV]

Its a long shot, but I am looking to get an osage stave. There really isnt any around my area, so would like to buy one but not pay what I see on the big auction site.

Specifically, I would like one that an expert would recommend for a beginner, ie. Straight grain, minimal knots, thick rings to chase.  I had a hickory stave I cut but the rings were so thin I just couldnt keep on them.  

Right now I am at 2 successful bows out of 4 attempts. The successful ones are red oak boards.  I just want a good piece of wood that I can patiently work, with confidence that it will be a good weight bow, vice the 35-40 lb ones ive made so far, since the red oak boards werent the best for the job.

[Dan Landis]

Robert, when you use hickory you do not need to chase a ring.  The wood just under the bark is your back ring.  If you cut the tree when the sap is up in early spring the bark will peel off just like a banana, well not quite that easy, but almost.  The wood you expose will be the back of your bow.

[mikkekeswick]

Those oasage staves on **** are cheap! You will be lucky to find a generous chap who is willing to give away a primo osage stave. Not that there aren't nice people on here!
Red oak get the thumbs down from people all the time. The fact is that red oak will make a really good bow but you have to understand the properties of it as a bow wood. The main thing is that its tension strength is high compared to its compression resistance. What this means in simple terms is that you need to make the back work harder than the belly. You do this by having less surface area for the back. So instead of a regular rectangular cross section for you limbs make it a trapezoid. This is known as 'trapping the back'. Hickory will also benefit from doing this but not as much as it is pretty good in compression.
As Dan says no need to chase rings on hickory either just strip the bark. Thin rings aren't a problem with hickory.

[Bowjunkie]

Sometimes ya just gotta grab bow wood when it's available, and that isn't always when the bark falls off like a dress on prom night. It's certainly not a deal breaker for me. I've chased hickory rings plenty of times. I've got about a dozen and a half hickory staves and billets now that need done. I just don't have the time.

I agree the staves on the big auction site are reasonably priced, as would anyone who's wrestled many of them.

[LittleBen]

Also, with hickory you don't need to be perfectly in one ring. It can handle some minor ring violations, just keep everything as clean as you can. Especially if you're building a bow of moderate draw weight, hickory can handle a lot.