osage drying question

[Bishop]

I think i know the answer to this already but im going to ask anyway, i have a line on some good Osage, the friend who owns this land ( a monster of a ranch) also told me about some Osage trees that had been cut down for some reason or another early last year and are still there stacked up. what are the chances of any of this being useable....im guessing slim and none...is it even worth fooling with?...i hate to see it just sit there..lol....besides insects and cracks what else should i look for as far as it being no good.
thanks
Bishop

[wvfknapper]

Bishop

I would say go for it,, The worst would be that bores have got into the wood and sometimes they don't hit the heartwood,, it's worth a try plus it's been down a year    If it was white wood it would be junk

wvflintknapper

[Bishop]

wv, i was thinking there is no shame in trying.....plus if i screw it up i can blame it on the wood not being sealed and dried correctly.
Bishop

[wvfknapper]

I read somewhere about 60 yr old hitching post's being used to make bows, so a year shouldn't hurt.......Get the best first and if it's good get the rest.

wvflintknapper

[RG]

Bishop I think it is all junk Bring it to the classic when you come and I will get rid of it for ya

Ron

[kayakfisher]

Go for it , you may just have to trim some ends and so forth, the bow I am getting ready to post as soon as I get the finnish work done is from a set of billets that have set for awhile the borers got to one billet I just had to take draw knife to it and take it down to good wood

[El Destructo]

I have seen Bows that were made from 100 year old Hedge Fence Posts...that when the outer rings were removed....they still had beautiful Orange Heartwood...and made fine Bows!! Go for it....even with the Borer Holes you can still make a fine Bow from one!

[FlintWalker]

 I don't think insects will be a major problem.  You might not get to choose where you split it though.  Most of the time when osage lays out for a while it developes long deep checks that run most of the length of the log. You might have to split it along those lines.  Hopefully they won't be so close that you can't get any good wood from it.
                        Saw Filer

[Bishop]

Thanks for the advice guys, will be going up soon to take down a few living trees and i am going to go through what is there, i will keep you all posted.
Bishop

[Pat B]

Go with a positive attitude and come home with a butt load of partially seasoned osage staves.   Don't worry about rot with these trees. If you are lucky, the sapwood will have started rotting so it comes off easy.       Pat

[leapingbare]

Hey bishop if you cut live trees here in the flint hills cut them in the botems don't bother cutting the hedge rows on the ridge real hard to find a straight one + i have noticed the rings from hedge cut on the hills here have small growth rings.
 If you wont me to come with you just give me a call. you have my #. I'd relay like to crank up my STEHL saw. i have more than enough sage cut so i don't need any... Man i hope i can get all my sage to fit in my uhale truck.

[DanaM]

Yup bring some to the classic and I will help knothead make it disappear

Go for Bishop I think you will be surprised and It will be great experience not to mention
the great excercize you will get

[Hillbilly]

That osage will still be fine. I made a good bow from a 'sage log that had lain for two years in a soggy mudhole. As Shannon said, it will probably have a few cracks, but those are easy to work around.

[El Destructo]

I picked some up this Winter that a Friend of Mine cut during His Normal Work routine (Pipeline Right of Way Manager)...He just cut them and pushed them up into piles along the edges of the Right of way on a Pipeline going into Kansas from the Oklahoma Panhandle....well the Sage was cracking...had some Borer dameage to the Sapwood...and a few minor Heartwood violations....but the Cracks were the Main Problems....all of the Black and Honey Locust were shot....the Borers ate straight to the Heartwood..SORRY DANA.....I had promised you a few this Spring....I will have to keep looking  ....So go get the Sage.....Split it and Seal it....and brag about it!!! 

[Bishop]

   I got a short look at the stuff that was already cut, we were on atv's looking for a missing calf, it looked much straighter and maybe younger than the living trees that i saw, when you guys say its hard to find a straight tree i now know what you mean, that Osage seems to be partial to twisting...mother nature sure has a funny sense of humor.
    Leapingnbare, his farm is just shy of an hour north of where i am, i will send ya pm.
   
    on a side note we never found the calf, we looked everywhere, rode the fence line, no sign of it, its a dang pure white calf....shouldnt be hard to find....i have not heard of any mountain lion sightings in northern Kansas/ southern Nebraska....maybe we should have been looking up in the trees? ..i did end up head first and elbow deep in a mud/cow crap hole after a mommy cow took offense to me handling her baby, now i know why i am not farmer, talk about eating a pride sandwich.
Bishop