Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: osage outlaw on March 30, 2025, 02:57:09 am
-
I used to cut a lot of osage, 300-400 staves a year. I tried to quit before I did too much damage to my body. I still get the itch to cut a tree every 2-3 years. This tree is going to be shared with some friends that I'm seeing next week. It got tangled in the canopy and took a lot of work to get it down enough to cut 4 logs off of it. The ring ratio looks pretty good. I'll try to set back and let them split it. That's my favorite part so I'm sure I'll grab a hammer and pitch in.
-
.
-
Great haul my friend. I'm a bit old for hauling logs now but I ejoy seeing other people doing the hard work >:D
Some gorgeous looking wood there. Have fun.
Del
-
Awesome haul! I don't envy you having to do all that splitting, real hard work. I'm getting a sore back just thinking about it.
-
Nice logs Clint. Certainly lots of work ahead yet.
Tell everyone I said hello and I hope to see what they turn out to be
Bjrogg
PS really good to see you here , really miss your what followed me home posts
-
Awesome haul!!! Its a lot of work but it will be well worth it! I will doing a lot of same soon! Not much for osage up here but plenty of other good woods.
-
You want to sell a couple of the premium staves?
-
Should be a few nice staves in that load of logs.
If you want to add me to your friend list, and bring them here, I’ll round up a friend and we’ll split them while you sit and watch and drink some cold beer. I’ll even buy the beer of your choice. (lol)
-
Nice haul Clint, I still have a piece or two you gifted me years ago, nice staves as I am sure this is. Pappy
-
Awesome haul - I guess I'm pretty much addicted to finding straight Osage and hauling it out.
Here's my latest load.
-
What do you use to seal the ends of your logs?
-
Should be a few nice staves in that load of logs.
If you want to add me to your friend list, and bring them here, I’ll round up a friend and we’ll split them while you sit and watch and drink some cold beer. I’ll even buy the beer of your choice. (lol)
Too bad I don't drink beer! ;D
-
What do you use to seal the ends of your logs?
These I used 3 coats of shellac because that's what I had on hand. When I was cutting lots of osage I found the most cost effective was buying a gallon of tight bond wood glue and watering it down to paint consistency. I always used multiple coats and had very little issues with checking.
-
Just my luck. )-w( Can’t blame a guy for trying though lol
-
I look back on my osage cutting days with fond memories, it was probably the hardest work I ever did but the end result was so rewarding. I cut, split and hauled out everything by hand for 20 years and I cut a lot of osage. My busted up old body won't let me split an osage log anymore.
The last tree that I cut had been pushed over by the city on a road side, I got permission from the city to salvage it. By this time, I had bought a tractor with a frontend loader so cutting and loading the logs was a piece of cake, If I had only had one way back when......
-
Nice haul indeed. Looks like some great Osage there. If you are looking for more friends… sign me up!
-
Kind of like the good old days, Clint. I bet it hurts more these days. Nice haul. :OK
-
Kind of like the good old days, Clint. I bet it hurts more these days. Nice haul. :OK
It sure does Pat. Apparently there's muscles that I only use while harvesting osage. I felt them all the next morning.
-
One of my stashes
-
Remember the post where the guy saw osage had been cut and he stopped by to see if he could have it...and the guy with the backhoe used a tooth on the bucket to split the staves? LOL! Free wood, split for you without so much as a bead of sweat, then loaded for you without even having to bend over?
Sometimes the sun does shine!!!
-
One of my stashes
I used to go through a lot of osage. I would do this much or more every spring. They are all gone now. I have a smaller stash of staves I'm keeping for myself. Maybe when I retire I'll get time to work on them.
-
I feel so inadequate - :)
-
I fell so inadequate - :)
You'd swoon if you saw the barn I saw a year ago last winter. Guy had a stack 5 ft high and 24 ft long, all cut and split osage.
Problem is, they left the sapwood on it when they sealed it and every single stave was checked down to heartwood. Also, 95+% had poor to terrible early wood to late wood ratios. I spent 5 hours digging through the stacks to find a dozen staves that I rated at least a C, the best was B- (On a scale of A-F). That's what happens someone that has never built bows and is thinking any straight-ISH osage is bow wood. This also explains why Osage Outlaw is held in such high regard. If he sent a stick, it was bow wood!
-
Man, I'm jealous. JW, you're not kidding, I've gotten my paws on a few here locally from a guy getting out of the game and it's the best stuff in my little stash.
-
That’s a really nice batch of Osage. I have a tough time finding straight, clean Osage here but I’ve managed to make some decent bows from tight grained, knotty and twisted Osage. I believe I got a stave from you awhile back, and it was really nice to work. Best of luck with them. Your friends are very lucky!
-
Nice little haul. I remember when you cut and split the big huge Osage tree. Forget how many staves you got from it. I seem to recall you had a contest guessing how many staves you’d get out of it.
-
Nice little haul. I remember when you cut and split the big huge Osage tree. Forget how many staves you got from it. I seem to recall you had a contest guessing how many staves you’d get out of it.
Yeah, that was a special tree. I've been wanting to go back down into that valley where I cut that one. I remember there was a few similar osage trees growing down there. I don't have the equipment to get them out and don't have the desire to do it by hand anymore.
-
I split the logs in half tonight after dark. The biggest log split super clean and straight. Looks like zero twist. It was hard to see the others. It did look like I'll get a stave with a very long hole. It will make a split limb bow if it holds up. It was cool to see sparks fly off the wedges when the hammer hit them. You don't see that in the daylight I guess.