Persimmon log

[Wiley]

My dad just picked a tree to cut for firewood and it is a persimmon, mentioned saving the base of it for bow staves. The the log from the bottom is pole straight with no knots and the grain doesn't appear to be horribly twisted, although I expect a little bit of twist as the piece above it split with some twist. I've got about 6 feet of it, and it's about 9 inches on the top side, 10 on the bottom.

We got it dragged out of the brambles, and it is now laying on the porch. I've sealed the ends with some latex paint. Now my question is what should I do next? Debark it while its still green? Split it into staves and debark it? Wait some amount of time before doing these things?

[Blaflair2]

I'd split it and debark it seal it. It'll dry faster. The bark is gonna wanna stick to it if cut in winter.

[Wiley]

 The bark probably won't come off too easy but with some effort I can probably get it off. It's early spring here and the sap has started to flow. It probably isn't going to be as hard to get it off as in the dead of winter.

If I split it into halves instead of quarters you think it would help reduce it twisting more than it already is? I think I read this in regards to another type of wood. I have patience to let it dry out. There are a lot more straight growing trees that aren't persimmon around here, and I quite like the natural dark color change it takes while drying.

[Pat B]

I'd seal the ends, split the log in half and store it out of the weather and off the ground. Leave the bark on it for now. After a few weeks split out the staves. You can begin working the staves to floor tiller at that point. Be sure to seal the back when you remove the bark.

[Wiley]

Thanks Pat, tomorrow I will take some wedges to it and attempt to split it in half put it up in the basement to cure out a bit.

Any advice of getting the bark off it in a few weeks? With the oak piece i'm working on I just scraped it off with a cleaver and a paint scraper. Similar process on this I suppose?

[Pat B]

Persimmon bark is thick but the outer parts  come of pretty easily. I'm working on a persimmon bow now and the stave had the bark on it. It wasn't all that bad to remove. I used a draw knife to remove the bark.

[Badger]

  I did a persimmon bow this year. I had to sharpen my scraper after every pass on the stave, Take the edge of the draw knife and spoke shave in less than 1 min. Destroyed my rasp in just a few seconds. I figure it must have had silica sand in the wood or some other super hard mineral. Bandsaw blade had to burn through most of it. Never came across anything like that in wood before.

[Wiley]

Sounds like a pretty mean specimen of persimmon there Badger. From what I have read it seems to be something that varies widely from tree to tree, area to area. Some people describe it as being fairly easily worked, some like you make it seem about miserable. I'm hoping these staves turn out something in between. It's one of the densest woods in North America, I don't expect it to be too easy to work.

[Pappy]

It gets hard that's for sure,if you don't remove the bark keep a close eye on it,bugs/worms love the stuff,if you do debark seal the back good,it can check like crazy sometimes,not worth the chance to leave it un sealed. 
  Pappy

[ohma2]

as mentioned don't be in a hurry  to split it into quarters , I have worked quite a bit of persimmon and it likes to twist.i started strapping a worked down piece to a basement floor post and leaving it till it was stable.