Newbie bowyer with problems

[jrmeza]

Hello Primitive Archers, this is my very first post about my very first osage self bow! I have encountered a couple problems with my staves that appear to be "out of the norm" because i cannot seem to search and answers. Below is my story of my first osage staves and what i did,
after that will be the tl;dr questions that i need answered if you want to just skip to that, thanks!

 All was going well, I found an osage tree that was straight as an arrow that was about 10-11" in diameter, i harvested my share (it was a triple tree so it had 2 other sisters coming out of the same stump, so the plant still lives). I was so psyched about this find, but when I get home and split it into staves, i have a single black line going down each slice of the log that i split, it appeared to be dirt!I cannot tell how deep this goes, but I can tell for sure that it is worst on places that have a knotty whole in the wood (there is a picture of that too). Never the less I keep going not wanting to waste the wood and hard work cutting the tree by hand.

I let them sit out in the hot texas summer sun on my back patio for a couple weeks to start drying, I read an article that roughing out a stave to near-bow-dimensions can greatly reduce drying period to as low as a few months rather than a year (http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/15951/Drying-Wood#.U-EADGOM1il), so i select one of the better staves and debark it but couldn't finish chasing a ring or roughing it out to bow size because i have a new job that makes me work 13 hrs, so i don't really have a whole lot of time to finish things lately. since i came back a couple days later after debarking it (i took it inside) there were severe cracks on the sap wood. I then got a draw knife and carved the cracks out to the heart wood. again, the sun was going down before i could finish chasing an entire ring, so i took it inside. the next day, CRACKS again all over the back of the stave. i figured they only originally appeared because it was sap wood, but now there are cracks on the heart wood that i was going to chase to one ring.

BTW, the pic of the giant knotty-hole IS NOT the stave i am working on, that is a different one that will most likely be fire-wood.

TL;DR
1. what do y'all think that black line/dirt is? (seems to be mostly coming from the wholes cause by a knot.)

2. does that black line ruin the whole stave/indicate that the wood is bad?

3.were the cracks caused because i debarked the wood without reducing it to bow-size on the same day?

4. unrelated question... when roughing out the stave to its dimensions, should i just cut it out as if the grain was straight? or does the bow need to follow the grain even if the grain is wavey due to some knots? (like a snakey bow) OR should i just include the knot as part of the bow rather then following the grain AROUND it?

5. whats the best tool (preferably inexpensive) to use to rough out the SIDE dimensions? cuz idk, hacking out 2-3 inches of solid wood on each side of the stave seems unrealistic.

6.recommendations for how i should move forward with the given problems i have?

Thank you so much for answering my question, sorry for the long read but none of these questions seem to be common questions except maybe the last one.

EDIT: sorry i cannot include pictures after all because the pictures are too large, so here is a photobucket link... maybe it'll work? http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/jaredmeza6253/library/

[mwosborn]

Welcome.  Here is my take on your questions...


The black is most likely some decay - often see it down the center of a log.  Without some pics of yours it is hard to say.  This will not hurt anything unless it is actually in the wood that will become your bow.

When bark is removed from osage, the sapwood should be removed right away and then the staved sealed with something like polyurathane.  Otherwise it will "check" like yours did.  It is simply drying to fast at the surface and causing the cracks.  Seal it immediately!!!!

Always follow the grain.

Roughing out - bandsaw is the fastest.  Draw knife will work fine as well as hatchet etc.


I would suggest reading many of the posts and build alongs on here to get an idea of the basics of making a bow from a stave.  Bowyers Bibles would be a good read too if you can get them.

Your stave might be ok if you can get it sealed.  You will need to chase a ring below the checks.

Good Luck.

[Eric Krewson]

Your black lines are wind shakes, common to just about all osage in varying degrees. Some go from the heart of a log to the bark but most go about half way. I split on them if possible to put them at the edge of a stave.

On green wood you have to get the sapwood off if you take the bark off. Your heart wood is still green wood that must be sealed even with the bark and sapwood off. I use shellac to seal, easy on, easy off later on. 3 or 4 thick coats does the job on the back and ends.

[J05H]

I took the liberty of posting your pics here for you. I hope you don't mind.

[jrmeza]

No I don't mind at all about the pics thanks! And thanks for the quick responses guys! Its a pleasure to have y'alls advice

[Eric Krewson]

Yep, wind shakes and a pretty bad one. You can see why I split along the shakes to keep them out of the useable area of a stave.

[Buckeye Guy]

My answer is do a whole lot more reading and searching on this site before you start
Welcome to PA

[wapiti1997]

The trees I've seen that kind of damage in were full of ants..  Getting in a hurry usually results in irreversible damage for me...  I've had staves that I was certain were dry, check when I used a heat gun...

[bradsmith2010]

the outside is checking,,, looks like not enough sap wood was taken off,, seal that now
rough out a bow and see what you can do,,,, it is a big piece of wood,, there is probably a bow in there
as you work the stave,, seal it every time,,,, cause you dont know how dry it is,,,, to prevent more checking,,,,