How to Split an Osage Stave 

That's some good splitting! "Bodark" is a challenge! My suggestion is to always take the bark/sapwood off, and seal the back/ends with Titebond. I like to use two of the Estwing heavy wedges, a hatchet to start and a big sledge. If you use plastic wedges, they will die quickly! I split the log into 2, 4 and hopefully 8 staves. Splitting in halves seems to work better, doesn't wander. Sometimes on the bigger logs, you get really nice inside splits, especially with larger growth rings. The most important thing I've learned, is don't cut an Osage that looks "OK". Keep looking for that great log!

Just what I was looking for, thanks!

Thanks for the information 😊

Verrryyy good channel, thank you for sharing All these tips

That's awesome man thanks for the tip

Great job

Good info Sir

Wow splits easier than hhb! Thanks for sharing.

Mustard yellow wood with dark brown grain. Beautiful.

A lot of guys recommend going from small end to big end when splitting, but I do the opposite for belly staves. 90 percent of the time, if you go small to big, it does that dive towards the bark like it started to do in your first split. If you go the other way, it's a lot less likely to happen. Splitting staves can be a back and forth of "Oh, yea! That's a beauty!" to "S#$t, F*@%, Mother...." Lol

I used 3 railroad spikes to split , works pretty good

Ya that looks great to me, what would a stave that big go for? I need one for me and my two grandsons. Do you sell those?

Idk why two piece bows are not more popular. The take down feature is nice and you don't get your heart broken with sketchy splits

Great job, my friend. Do you sale staves. Can’t find any Osage ing northern South Carolina?

I was shown how to use a circular saw with a ripping blade to cut down both sides of the stave to cut the belly stave. You can set the depth of the blade to cut to the middle and have both cuts meet in the middle. This allow you to cut more with the curve of thr growth rings and keep from having the splits run wild.

Hi, thaks for sharing. I Wonder, what whould happened if you were done that in the green stave? Does it would Worth it??

Are you opposed to using two or three smaller sharp chisels to contour the line of the ring?

I'm going this weekend to two different properties to look for and cut osage to start drying for a bow I hope to start in the spring or summer of 2023. Just to clarify, though, after the initial cut, do you immediately quarter it and seal the ends to dry, or seal the ends and wait to quarter it after it dries?

Do you have to use trunk pieces? Or will branches work too?

Damn that’s a premium stave

If Olney all staves behaved like this one lol! I have never worked Osage, my question is, what is the best pice? I've heard it's the Heartwood but I love the color of the sapwood. And the Heartwood has been he best reflex.

Do you ever use a froe?

What wood can I use?

Haz un arco piramidal de corazón de Mesquite la mejor madera para hacer arcos.

Too bad that band saw is broken.

why didn't you just cut your stave up with your bandsaw?

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