Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: BrokenArrow on April 01, 2015, 02:43:06 pm
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I am drying some osage and noted that when the back does not have sapwood and is not sealed that slight cracks form.
Is it ok to have lateral cracks if the ring you intend to follow is a couple below the crack or does the crack usually go down through more than one ring?
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it can go down more than one or two or three all depends..I would seal back and ends just to prevent it though...gut
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Ditto Gutpile's comments. Without sealing the ends and back it's a real crap shoot. You've already done the hard work.
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Where you store them is very important. You can seal backs and ends and still get checks all over the backs. A slow, gradual dry is best.
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I seal the back of any stave I expose a new back. I've had 10 year old osage staves check that had newly exposed backs. I use spray shellac as sealer and it takes about 10 seconds to seal the back of almost any size stave. New3ly exposed ends always get sealed too.
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What PD said. I had a huge haul of 60+ year old, 12+ inch diameter logs that had been in a field for 60 years, then in a barn for 2 years. After cleaning the inch or so of crap off of the staves and sealing the backs, I still had a couple develop checks. The only way I could prevent it was to use a ridiculous amount of poly or use some TBIII.
Take the extra 2 minutes and pennies it costs to seal it properly, otherwise you risk having to chase rings again, or worse, possibly ruining the stave.