Got Me A Log

[Bill_in_TR]

I am going to a fairly big flea market tomorrow that usually has several booths selling older tools. I hope to pick up a draw knife there. With a little luck I might find an old axe head or other wedge to assist in splitting. I don't want to lay out too much money in case I manage to screw this log up.

[bentstick54]

Like Hawkdancer said, make some wedges out of the cutoff end you had. I’ve found some good vintage draw knives at local antique malls for $25 to $50 that were in excellent condition.

[simson]

The first thing I would do is sealing the ends!!!!!!

[Bill_in_TR]

The first thing I would do is sealing the ends!!!!!!

Yes sir. Did that yesterday when I cut the log down to its current length. I hope to get it split soon. I will take the bark off of half the log and leave it on the other half.

[Eric Krewson]

If the bark comes off the sapwood has to go as well, sapwood dries quicker than heartwood and will check quickly with the checks running down into the heartwood.

I use shellac for sealing the ends and back after removing the sapwood, if I get lazy and just remove the bark no amount of shellac will keep the back from checking.

One member here mentioned that he used a product called Anchor Seal and was able to strip the bark and apply Anchor Seal to the sapwood back and have no checking. This sounds promising but I haven't tried the product.

I got lazy and just pealed the bark off several of these pieces of osage, here is the result in spite of 4 coats of shellac.

[Eric Krewson]

Another thing; I always peal off the sapwood while the log is green, it slices off fairly easily at this stage. If you dried a stave bark on you have your work cut out for you removing cured sapwood, especially if the sapwood is thick.

I removed all the sapwood green but didn't chase a ring on almost every stave I cut in the last 25 years. it sure is nice to reach in your stash and have bark and sapwood free staves to work on.

On the left side of the picture you can see I removed almost all the sapwood and have some heart wood peaking through, these billets won't check because the sapwood is very thin.

[Tim P]

Another thing; I always peal off the sapwood while the log is green, it slices off fairly easily at this stage. If you dried a stave bark on you have your work cut out for you removing cured sapwood.

I removed all the sapwood green but didn't chase a ring on almost every stave I cut in the last 25 years. it sure is nice to reach in your stash and have bark and sapwood free staves to work on.

Ok, Going to remove some sapwood from staves that I put in my shed a few weeks ago. Hope it's not too late yet! 
I was avoiding it a bit as I was preoccupied with buidling a bow 

[Eric Krewson]

If you are good with a bandsaw you can slice off most of the sapwood. This is what I do now, I take of little 6" slices with the bandsaw just like I would do with a drawknife. I still have to clean up the last little bit of sapwood with a drawknife to make sure I don't get my bandsaw blade into the heartwood.

[Digital Caveman]

I end up drooling every time he posts that photo. 
Good luck,

[Bill_in_TR]

Lots of good advice to consider. Some of these considerations are out of my control since my son acquired the log for me and it has been drying in his garage over a year with the bark on and the ends unsealed. Fortunately the log he saved was long enough to cut some off of each end to get to fresh log. I then sealed the ends while deciding how to proceed. Whatever drying has already occurred I can't do any more about. Hopefully when I get it split and debarked I have something useable. We will see.

[SLIMBOB]

  So, going on 30 years with my love affair with Bodark.  Most of what has been written is accurate.  Peeling the bark without taking the sapwood off CAN cause some wild checking, but not always.  I have 2 Bodark staves I am working on now that the bark was taken off and the sap wood left in place.  It was shellacked and left to dry.  One has little thin rings and the sap wood is 1/4 inch thick.  The other has fat rings and the sap wood is an inch thick, also shellacked.  Not a single check (on the back) on either one.  Thin one I worked down to floor tiller over the last couple of weeks.  Tough sap wood, but thin enough, it was not much of a problem.  The thick one I tackled last Sunday.  I chased a ring half way down the stave last Sunday, and plan on finishing that today.  Just murder to get the sap wood off. Horrible!  My 60 year old hands hurt all week from it.  Getting it off green is so much easier.  But no checks in either, save some checks along the split side on one. Nothing on the back.  Pat is right in that you dont know what is under the bark if you leave it on.  And wood wasps can be a concern, but I dry them indoors, so no concern there.  That brings me back to where we came in, lot's of ways to skin that cat (no offense to all the cat lovers), and each way has it's plusses and minuses.  Again, it is nice to reach for the next stave and not have to kill yourself establishing your back.  That is where I am at on this damn thing I am fighting with now.  I have taken a hammer and chisel to it to remove the the evil concrete like sap wood.

[SLIMBOB]

From the post above.  Without pics, it didn't happen.

[JW_Halverson]

If you cannot find an antique drawknife, do NOT buy a modern one that looks like it was milled from a flat rectangular bar of steel. Especially if the handles are spray-painted orange. Those are cheap junk that cannot keep an edge. If you have to buy a new draw knife, go to a reputable woodworking tool company like Lee Valley Tools and buy a really good one. I recommend Lee Valley's Austrian drawknife ($65) because it comes nearly shaving sharp and is Rc58-60 on the hardness scale so it holds an edge like Scrooge McDuck holds onto money!

Lots of the folks here that I respect will tell you that a dull draw knife works better to chase rings on osage, but in my experience that only applies to well-seasoned wood. A sharp tool parts wood better, especially when hogging off sapwood and bark. Also, a sharp drawknife works better for shaping the profile as it will cut closer to a line as opposed to busting through with brute force.

It's true a poor workman blames the tool, but they didn't build the Space Shuttle with a rock tied to the end of a stick and a bent screwdriver. Never scrimp on quality tools, they work better and last longer, saving money and sweat in the long run.

I think you have at least one good bow in that log and I look forward to seeing your progress!

[SLIMBOB]

Agree with JW on all of that.  For me, razor sharp, in every application, but others may use them differently than I do.  See for yourself which you like best.

[Digital Caveman]

If the sap wood is that tough why not just leave it on?