Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: tom sawyer on December 03, 2007, 03:25:34 pm
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I got a call from a bowyering buddy who has a friend who cuts hedge fenceposts. He had a line on a nice 9-foot butt cut, 12"+ diameter, straight as a string with few knots and straight bark. We went out and looked it over yesterday. The rings are pretty good and it should make 6 nice splits, probably thick enough for a piggyback and two blanks off each outer part (yes I'm an optimist). We would have split it up and hauled it off but we didn't know what he wanted for it. Found out this morning he's asking a premium for an end-post, $40. Usually only $25-30. But I'm going to buy it, saves me gas and wear on the chain saw and most of an afternoon. There was another ten big endpost logs in a pile, and umpteen fenceposts in his yard.
I'm headed straight there with maul and wedges after work. Didn't think to bring a camera, but when you've seen one pile fo headge logs you've seen'em all.
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$40 I would pay it gladly, of course living up north with no hedge causes me to have a different view ;)
Could trade ya some real nice NW Cedar posts ;D
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I wouldn't mind seeing a picture - always enjoy looking at huge piles of bow wood ;D.
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Shoot, I'd have paid that for it, then again I don't find any osage here in my parts either.
Alan
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Maybe even $45. ;D Justin
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Do I hear $50 ;)
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Dang Lennie,
Your sittin right in the middle of Osage and Knappin' rock heaven. If ya get 4 stave out of a log...lessee...$10 a pop ain't bad.
Dang Timo hoggin up all that Missoura Osage?
I'd go fer it!
R
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That guy is sitting on a gold mine. All he has to do is split up those other 50 logs, knife off the bark and sapwood, take photos and post on ebay, then ship them all to the highest bidder. Lots of ways to make a little money, that is one of them I guess. Definitely not an easy way to make money.
We split this log into eighths and they are pretty big, things looked pretty good. A little twist, and there was some brown in the upper area that is from wind shakes or something. The pieces are 9' long though so I am reasonably sure there will be staves in most all of the splits, or billets at the very least. We had a devil of a time breaking the log in half, I think we had 7 wedges in the thing before it gave up.
My guess is theres easily 12 bows of one size or another, I'm giving one stave to my buddy as a finders fee and the rest I'll cull and put maybe 6 in the garage for seasoning. I got a pic of the big log pile but it is on my phone camera and we are on extended network so it'll be a week before I am where I can email myself the pic to post. I'll take a photo of the staves in the morning, but it is just another pile of wood. Just about maxed out the springs on my little pickup, and the serevice engine light came on on the trip back. Needs a quart of oil.
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I take pride and satisfaction in cutting my own wood, too. But paying $40 for a dozen staves and saving yourself the time and sweat is too good to pass up. Pull your truck up, load, and go man! Just thinking about the multiflora rose choked, veritable canyon that I drag staves out of piece by piece, makes that $40 seem really cheap in fact. :D
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Yep this experience is going to make it difficult to go back to honest harvesting, no doubt about it. We even parked the truck about ten feet from where the log lay. I should have asked if he delivered.
My hands are still a little numb from swinging the maul, I didn't notice until I had problems holding a fork at supper. There were a few times that it was like hitting a rock, that wood was so hard. I could hear the maul and wedges ringing. You get a thick log and you've got to start with a thin hatchet on one end and really walk up he thing in small jumps. Get a little ambitious and you're trying to split a log in two from the side, just doesn't work. Or if theres a little wiggle in the grain that doesn't let the wedge part the halves clean, you will figure out quick that you have to back up a bit and split it open better.
The hedge post guy said his buddy got hit in the head with a splitting maul last week, put a 3" cut in his noggin and could have killed him. Which brings to mind, anybody ever see wedges spti out of a fresh log? I've had a time or two where the first or second wedge will pop back out a fair ways. I've heard of people geting hit in the mouth with a flying wedg, its something I've always tried to remember when I'm splitting. You always want to angle the wedge away from you.
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Sounds like some really dense wood Lennie. Yup..I've had them pop 3-4' in the air brfore. luckily the other way. Good luckk buddy!
R
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$40 ;D Osage is more like £100 for a single Bowstave in England,you guy's are soooo lucky.
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Never bought any but for that price I would.I have had wedges pop back like that before
especially when first getting the split started. :)
Pappy
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Here's a pic, kind of early when I took it. These are 9' long, threw the mailbox in to give it some perspective. The two on the left need to be split again.
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Wow that is a pretty haul. I think you got your $40 worth. Justin
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That is some pretty wood, makes me wanna stay out in the shop for a few days. Won't be back from work till a few days before X-mas.
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Lazy basitid. I just feel so dirty, having only thought about it. How do you live with yourself? LOL
Not so much twist I'd leave it lay, but more than I'd purposely cut. Got a stave and billet on every split I reckon, being 9' long. I hauled a big tree up out the bottom one day at the farm and when I got up to the shed the neighbor cousin had a odd look on his face. "You cut it all too short." .-)
Hope all is well up yonder.
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The guy said he had a better log for us but it "got away from him", I guess somebody snatched it for a post. The bark on this looked pretty straight but I was a little dissappointed when we made that first split and it wasn't perfectl straight. But its got to have something wrong with it. Plus this way the guy won't be tempted to raise the price. I'm almost as cheap as I am lazy.
Things are good up here, how about there? Haven't found a weekend to scoot down that way yet. Got a new position at the cement plant, a little higher on the ladder. And I'm learning to invest in the stock market. Thats not about pigs and cattle as it turns out.
Hope your log turns out almost as good as mine. Thats as generous as I can get.
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Real fine. Thanks for asking.
Saving is a good thing, as is finding one's way along the food chain. Equities are at all time highs however, similarly commodities. Perhaps some value in bank stocks.
Osage is like a box of chocolates. Don't recall how the log cuz commented on turned out, other than I recall it was big wood. I tend to prefer 40 yo stuff, but I ain't picky, 'specially when somebody else does all the work.
Yollar when ya'll find your wanderin' shoes.
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yep, I know just what you mean about splitting those osage logs in half and yes our wedges poped out on us several times and with some serious force to. I think if one hit you in the head it could knock you out cold.
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Be careful with those stocks Tom, that nuts fixing to crack and it won't be pretty. Commodities that you can posess, thats where the secure investment is. Well, that and making sure youv'e got eternity covered. But thats another post. Danny
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I'm heavily invested in commodities. Have osage, black locust, hickory, hackberry, even yew. All your staples.
Guess my latest purchase falls in the category of a hedge fund.
I've day-traded my way to 25% so far, thinking I'll break 30 with this little run-up we're seeing. My 401K just broke 30% too, its been a good year even if it is living on the edge.
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We're getting pretty close to the edge here, but you are smart enough to know "timing" the equities market is a fool's game. Gains aren't profits till you take them, and then the 15% cap gains tax negates a good bit of it. Plus, then how do you make what's left work for you? Fact is fixed income returns suck right now, and for the forseeable future. Stick with a long term strategy, and count yer chickens when the actually hatch.
And I disagree commodities are a good value, gold is darn near twice it's actual value. Farm commidites are extremely volatile, even if a percieved value today.
There may be some localized value in real estate. You got the patience for being a landlord? It's a sure bet, if you do.
I loved yer puns though.
We keep this up and somebody is gonna, rightly so, call us on it. And you'll owe me a home brew for sure.
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Market timing is gambling, no doubt about it. But I have some experience with certain companies that gives me a good or bad feeling, so when I see them coming up for earnings reports I have been gambling and have been right more than wrong so far. Of course the resulting short-term capital gains are taxed even higher, as regular income. So I'm considering taking a buy-and-hold strategy for this upcoming year, at least for a good percentage of my dab of money. My brother is a landlord and from the trials and tribulations he's had I don't know that I want to go that way. It'd cut into my hunting and bowbuilding time for sure.
There, I managed to relate this back to bowbuilding.
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Yeah, I love your choice of commodities. A man has got to keep his priorities in line thats for sure. We have a wheat grinder and I built a pulley system to use on an excercise bike and we grind our own and she is making our bread. I bought 500lbs before the poor wheat harvest at $7.50 per 50lb bag, now I can't even buy it if I wanted it. If I wanted to sell it as seed it would probabely fetch double or more, but its not for sale. Thats the kind of commodities that are gonna be good investments. Yeah gold is gonna keep rising as the dollar keeps falling but I don't put much stock in riches, "cuz ya caint eat gold". Anyway good having fun with you guys and I hope things contiue to go your way..Danny
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Watch this bunch, they won't want to help grow, harvest, grind or make bread, but they'll want a piece (ala little red hen story). I do low carb so I won't bogart your wheat.
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Lennie, I think we have the same commodities broker ;) I bet you could sell half of that haul at Mojam, and get your return on your investment, plus have a couple left...Don't think this market gonna plummet as hard..
Rich-it actually rained here
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MOJAM is a buyers market any more. And the buyers are pretty picky at that.
It snowed 3" here.
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We arent picky Lennie...we just got a bit more knowledge from this sight to buy just any peice a wood now ;)...the first peice of sage I got from Mojam was sawed out instead of split....that was a costly lesson!! Now I run from bandsawed staves...but I know you wouldnt sell anything like that peice ::)...good luck with the sage.....Brian
p.s...the snow sure was purty...then I had to shovel it ;)
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Finally downloaded the pic of the logs at the hegepost guy's place. Of course the quality of the camera stinks btu you get the idea of what this guy had laying around. This was just the endpost pile (bigger logs), he had twice that much in smaller posts. Thats my buddy standing by the pile.
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Good lord - what a stash. Sooo could a feller just make a quick run through MO and load up? Think I already know the answer ;D.
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He could if he knew the directions to this fellers homestead.
Honestly, there are frequently osage fenceposts for sale at livestock auctions around here. So by calling one of the auction places they could probably put you in touch with someone who cuts these things as a side job.
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The first osage I ever got to work on came from an older than dirt fence post a buddie brought me from Missouri.I still have a piece of it left.
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Finally got a decent day when I could attack the pile of hedge splits. I dragged it out and knocked the snow off yesterday, today I split out belly splits, hogged bark and sapwood off a few and basically culled anything that wasn't going to be usable. This tree had some wind shakes or something in it, ruined a fair amount of the wood as you can see from the waste pile. The log was 9' long but there were knots on one end and funky grain on the other so I had to cut both ends to make staves. I was hoping to make billets as well as staves, no dice. I ended up with enough wood for about sixteen bows if you count a couple of short staves. I think there were three sets of sister billets, the rest is still as 72" staves. I've still got a lot of work to do but I made some progress today. In any case, just thought I'd post a follow-up in the event someone needed something to drool over. I just saw an ad in the paper for hedge posts, don't know if I will call or not. My hands hurt from all the drawknifing/splitting/froeing.
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Nice lookin pile of wood there Lennie, settin where I'm at, I'd make the call. I'll be the one with all the hedge in the back of my truck goin home from Ojam and Mojam next year. ;D
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So you're an importer now? Guess its nicer to drag a few staves down there and not have to deal with the ice and snow up here. Its been pretty nasty for this early in the year.
I want to get down to OJAM this year, sounds like fun.
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Yep!! 'Importer" that sounds better. I don't miss that nasty winter stuff at all buddy. I know you would have fun at Ojam, more bows get made there than at Mojam, but ya just gotta do both. Stay warm and cuddled up to Shannon.
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Keep posting them picalongs Lennie ;D, always nice to have something to drool over even if it is online :).
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What a treat! That would be a years' worth of bow building for me--easily. If I could buy staves that cheap, I would do it without a bit of shame. Although, I do like going out and cutting them, too.
J. D.