Pictures added of Osage stave

[snag]

I have a pretty large osage stave. It is 4.5" at the bark or back and 5" from the back to the inner point. I think I should be able to make 2 bows pretty easily. If so, how do I split this baby? Just pick a growth ring and split it with a wedge and maul? Is the outer piece better for making a bow or the inner section? Or does it just depend on the amount of growth rings per section...?

[bowmo]

Oh yea, for sure. I would split it on a bandsaw after I got the bark and sapwood off. I personally wouldn't want to do it any other way.

dan

[snag]

Dan, do I just try and saw with the a growth ring? Or should I just saw through the middle of the stave and go from there?

[bowmo]

Yea, find where you want to cut it and draw with any squiggles or snakes the stave may have. I have bought quite a bit of staves at MOJAM that I was able to slice into two.

dan

[sailordad]

if its thick enough you could take a belly split by following a growth ring
if its wide enough
split it and folllow tha longitudial grainr not real unless you cane fllow grain real good by hand and are skilled with a band saw i dont recomend using that to split it
you can ruin wood real quick if you arent real carefull with power tools

ive taken several belly staves from thick pieves of wood like osage
where i live its very very very hard to aquire osage(it doesnt grow here)
so i take all precautions with it as i dont want to waste it
but its your wood,take my advise for what it s worth

pretty much nothing to most folks 

[snag]

I want to utilize as much of this stave as I can. A man from Missouri shipped it to me. I don't think it grows here in Oregon. So, if I understand, I should go down on one end about the 2" or so, find a growth ring and set a wedge there and start splitting....?

[bowmo]

Careful with that is it the finer ringed osage. I have had awful luck with belly spits with that stuff.

dan

[Pat B]

That's what I would do too. Split off the inside of the wedge(piggyback) for one stave and down the bark side for two more. You have plenty enough wood to make 3 staves from one that big.
  Can you post pics of the ends and the back of the stave. That will help us help you.

[snag]

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Thanks guys, David

[Eric Krewson]

I do a lot of billet splicing and save the triangles I cut out for the splice to knock core splits out of a stave. Perfect little wedges for splitting, about 4" long and flexible enough to do minimal damage to the wood. I get a split started with a steel wedge and do the rest with my wood wedges.

[snag]

Eric, that's a great idea. I think I have some hardwood scraps I can saw into wedges.  Thanks, David

[Frode]

That's what I would do too. Split off the inside of the wedge(piggyback) for one stave and down the bark side for two more. You have plenty enough wood to make 3 staves from one that big.
  Can you post pics of the ends and the back of the stave. That will help us help you.

Like so?  I've been wondering about such a thing myself.
Frode



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[sailordad]

Frode, thats exactly what i was talking aboot in my post 

[snag]

Thanks for verifying with an image. David

[wodpow]

I bought a nice stave from a guy in Missouri on ebay the mail women looked at me kid of funny when she had it for me stand up and she said is this a tree it sure is heavy. I know a guy with a wood shop he makes mostly mantle for fire places and has a  band saw with a big blade like  two teeth per inch almost a sawmill blade and we feed that stave threw that saw I split a stave once and it tracked way off and i only got one stave anyway. I used a circular saw once and cut a line down the back of the stave and had a good split but the saw was not made to do what I did and lucky I have strong arms and good reflex because it jerked and pulled if you didn't go really slow.