black locust staves checking

[bcbull]

  HI GUYS  I NEED HELP BAD HERE  IV BOUGHT ABOUT 10 STAVES  OF BLACK LOCUST  SEEMS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF EM CHECKED SO BAD OR CRACKED CLEAR THRU  IT AINT EVEN FUNNY THEY ARE ABOUT AS USLESS AS FIREWOOD IV FOUND SOME LOCUST I CAN CUT  WHAT I NEED IS ALL YOU GUYS WHO HAVE MESSED WITH IT  TO GIVE ME UR IDEAS  ON HOW TO SEAL  OR HANDEL GREEN WOOD TO KEEP IT FROM CHECKIN SO BAD SO FAR THE INFO IV GOT IS TAKE THE BARK OFF AND SAP SEAL THE WHOLE STAVE WITH WAX  SO  ID LIKE TO ASK FOR  ALL UR INPUT  ON THIS WOOD SOME OF IT S REAL NICE BUT TOTALY USLESS IF I CAN FIND A WAY TO STOP THE CHECKIN  HAVE SOME OLIVE  SAME PLMS AND A BIT OF HOP HORN BEAM SAME PLMS ALSO  THANKS I APPRICATE IT

[George Tsoukalas]

I've always left the bark on but you can remove bark and sapwood and hen seal it with poly. Seal the ends in both cases. Jawge

[bcbull]

 THANKS THAT HELP S ,,,BUT WE TRYED THAT AND A LOT OF EM STILL SPLIT ANY MORE IDEA S ? IM THINKIN SEAL THE ENDS WITH WAX LEAVE EM 6 MONTHS THEN TAKE THE BARK  & SAP WOOD OFF THEN SEAL EM AGAIN WHAT YOU THINK ?

[richpierce]

Once you split it your best bet is to get the bark and sap off and get it taken down close to bow dimensions quickly, then seal it.  Otherwise the moisture variation as it dries, cracks it.  I have a log that was down on the ground for 6 months before I split it and one stave I brought inside too soon.  It split on the belly.

[Brokestick]

I once chopped out a BL bow in the green state to near finished dimensions, and had no checking.  Unfortunately I didn't know at the time that you needed to remove the sapwood, so it ended up being junk.  The other stave from the log was left with the bark on, and it twisted nearly 90 degrees.  I didn't bother to peel it to look for checks.  I would suggest working it down green as the best choice, but if that's not possible, leave the log whole with bark on, and seal the ends with glue.

[Ryano]

BC, try polyurathane or paint instead of wax. Ive gotten stave with the ends sealed in wax that still checked on me. Also where are you storing the staves? Maybe try leaving them out side up off the ground with a tarp over them  for a month or two before you bring them inside. Cracking is from the wood trying to dry to fast.

[Hillbilly]

I've had good luck with locust taking the bark/sap off and sealing the back and ends with glue. Glue seems to work better for me than anything else I've tried. I also leave staves in an unheated shed for awhile before bringing them inside. As Ryan said, heavy checking is an indication that the wood is drying too fast. Keep in mind that a bit of checking doesn't necessarily ruin the stave for making a bow-lengthwise checks still basically leave the grain intact.

[Eric Garza]

I'd rough your bow out first and let it rest a month to dry in a cool room or in an outdoor shed, maybe clamping the roughed out blank to a form to keep it from twisting.  That's pretty much how I treat all the wood I cut now, and I haven't had any problems.  I haven't even needed to seal it.

Also, of the staves that checked are there any with 55-60 inch sections that might still be usable?  I tend to make short bows, up to 55 inches long and 2 inches wide, and might be willing to buy or trade for a few of the checked staves if they're usable for a bow like this.  If you have any such staves, send dimensions and maybe a pic or two to show how straight they are and what the rings look like.  Email elgarza1976@yahoo.com, or send a PM. 

All the best,

-Eric