Salvaged Osage processing advice

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Nezwin
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Salvaged Osage processing advice

#1 Post by Nezwin » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:50 pm

Taking a tip off from a member of this board, I visited a local spot known for its Osage to pick up a few seeds. It might a few decades but maybe my kids will have use of the timber! Nosing around, I finally found the Osage and noticed a few limbs had been harvested - it would seem I'm certainly not the first bowyer to visit the place... After a bit more exploration, I found a heap more trees and finally some seed pods. As I was leaving, I spotted a cut & partially burned trunk... It didn't take long to peg this as some more Osage, partially burned but (potentially) salvageable. After a quick call to mates in Local Government to check I was good to go, I managed to get a few trunks in the back of the car and got them home.

Apologies for the poor pictures but the light was dying fast this afternoon.
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Trunk A (far left) & Trunk B (middle) are both about 90" long with diameters of 7"(thick end) - 6" (thin end) and 8" (thick end) -6" (thin end) respectively. Trunk C (far right) is 39" long by about 10" on its widest radius. The burning isn't too bad, not really extending much past the sap wood, and the checking doesn't extend too far.
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I took some advice from one of the old timers here & was told it was best to remove the sapwood, mill them & seal the ends, then leave them to season. Having never processed timber before, I put the 1& 1/2"/1 tpi blade on the band saw and went at Log C, thinking that, with the worst burning, I'd use this for backed bows. I probably should've taken a few pictures, but it came out alright and the half that I finished has given me three 2"x2"x36" lengths. Not bad, if they don't check too much. The other half had a large split through it, which I plan to extend with wedges and then mill each half.

Milling this smaller bit proved a bit of a handful, to be honest, which has left me wondering how I deal with Trunk A & Trunk B. How would people on this board approach this? Seal & season, then split? Split then seal & season? When should the sapwood be removed, if at all? The only selfbows I've ever made have been yew & bamboo, of which it certainly wasn't preferable to remove the yew sapwood at any point. With the fair bend in each log, would it be best to cut these in half and splice into staves or leave full length and steam/heat bend them into a usable shape?

I'm fumbling about in the dark here with my Bowyers Bibles still absent, so would appreciate any input!
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Hamish
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#2 Post by Hamish » Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:23 pm

Pretty challenging pieces of wood. There are potential bows in there if you are dedicated and patient enough.

I would cut into billets lengths.

For wood like this I always split into quarters, to make sure the grain stays intact along the length.
In the early days I have overlooked or junked many challenging twisted staves before I learnt about steaming and dry heat. There is a limit before most people will say there is too much time and effort invested, and find or purchase a relatively clean stave. Even if the banana splits don't make bow staves they can still make nice walking sticks, or canes.

Hamish.

Hamish
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#3 Post by Hamish » Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:28 pm

You remove the sapwood when they have been split(sawn in your case, hopefully you were able to follow the grain), into staves. Always put a coat of pva glue or two on the back of the stave after the sap has been removed otherwise you will get checks.

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cmoore
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#4 Post by cmoore » Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:13 am

Shortbow anyone? :biggrin:
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Stickbow Hunter
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#5 Post by Stickbow Hunter » Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:54 am

I agree with Hamish. Cut those pieces into billet lengths and then split them and mark the matching pairs of billets. I would also put some PVA glue over the cut ends to stop splitting.

Jeff

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Nezwin
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#6 Post by Nezwin » Sun Sep 14, 2014 6:16 pm

Thanks for all the replies & interest.

I managed to debark & seal them this weekend, which has really showed up the splits running throughout.
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I also had to dig a few grubs out of the sapwood, which is to be expected given I found it half burned & laying on the ground. It didn't look like much got past the sapwood though.

Cutting up the large but short section, I managed to get fair few lengths 37" long by 1.5" to 2" width. A lot of it will be unusable due to burns, splits & character in the timber, but I'd say a good 70% should be fine, if used properly. A lot of the damage is at either end or on the edges, all of which can be trimmed. Regardless, there's several very good lengths which has made the exercise worthwhile alone.
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I cut a few lams earlier in the week on the first attack at the shorter section, and they've come up beautifully.
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It may be that the burning & seasoning of the wood before I picked it up has left it pretty badly split but lower than 'fresh' moisture content. Still, all these bits have been sealed & will be left to dry a little further.

The longer sections I'll leave until I've got a bit of time & inclination to get into splitting them - the milled lengths shown above will be more than enough to keep me busy a year or two... Based on a few other very nice bows on the forum at the moment and encouraging comments about Osage, it looks like a selfbow or BBO bow would be the way to go. Selfbow with a two-piece sleeve sounds good.

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mikaluger
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#7 Post by mikaluger » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:43 pm

Seal it up and store it away!!!!!! some nice belly wood right there!
There is some top class billets in there as long as it seasons properly. I might have to give you a call in a year or two....... :biggrin:
Nice work.
Mick.

Hamish
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#8 Post by Hamish » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:18 am

I generally seal the entire outside of any osage with 2 coats of pva if it has been sawn. You can probably get away without doing it if you are in a cool, mild climate, and store the wood carefully. Sealing just means that extra bit of insurance, especially during spring/summer, when the temperature rises and humidity can drop.
It really depends on what you want to do with the wood. Those sawn sections should be fine for belly slats of backed bows. If you want self bows, you should split, as you can use the checks to you're advantage, and even maximise the yield of useable wood from twisty trees.
It looks to me you could have scored more billets(for self bows if that is what you want to make) if you had split that large section that you had marked out. You could then have sawn matching sisters on the bandsaw once the run of the grain reveals itself properly from split edges.

For bows its all about visualising the stave in to log, then working out the best method to achieve the results you want.

KellyG
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Re: Salvaged Osage processing advice

#9 Post by KellyG » Sun Sep 28, 2014 3:42 am

Nice looking hedge. chase a ring and make a bow I say. Also Osage response very well to dry heat from a heat gun or other source. I personally don't like steam on it. Some do though. Just oil up the area you want to get straight. But looks like you got most straight with a saw.

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