Primitive Archer

I've split a lot of big osage trees.  The biggest yielded 109 staves plus some billets.  I prefer to cut the large ones.  They tend to be straighter and cleaner wood plus all the belly splits don't need cleaned up.  Logs that big will usually have natural splits in them.  Start there.  Getting them in half is the hardest part.  You will need a lot of wedges.  I built a splitting stand on my sloped yard out of telephone poles.  I could roll a log to the end and have it at perfect working height so I didn't have to bend over.  I used a 4 and 6 lb hammer for all my splitting.  I didn't like using a full sized sledge.  When trying to get them busted in half, there will be stringers connecting them.  Two crowbars are handy to pry them apart.  I also had a long wood chisel I would use to cut the stringers deep inside.  I used to split 300-400 osage staves a year.  I tried to stop before I did too much damage to my body but I was too late.  I'm paying for it now.


Wear safety glasses!!!!!!!!!!!   I had a hammer head chip off and hit me right between the eyes.  It felt like I had been punched.  My nose was too sore to touch for days.  If it had hit a half inch either way I would have lost an eye.  Have fun and be careful.     

WEW are in western Pa. will have to split into staves-it`s too big to carry.

I hope most of yall have seen this already but some may have not. We are doing an end of year giveaway with several ways to qualify. All of the items are donated by our very wonderful members here and they are fantastic! Click the link here to learn all about it  😀 http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,73299.0.html

I look every day but don`t very often comment here but I have a question some of you guys could probably answer. Will B and I have permission to cut a large Osage tree(how big) how about 28" in dia. Have any of you tried to split one this big?? Don`t know if we`re up to the task.

Quote from: sleek on November 23, 2025, 11:20:19 pm

Hey man thats super cool and well done! If you could so a build along, that would be great! And to ad, compmete buildalongs get you an entry into the end of year giveaway incase you didnt know.

I'll try to do that in the future. I'm learning how to get my camera and photo set up better so I can do stuff like that. I had no idea about the end of year giveaway!

Your pictures are fine! Here is the link, you shouldn't miss out! This is our first one, but we will do it again next year too. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,73299.0.html