Help osage rings 1 micron thick

[dismount]

Can everyone look at the rings on this really great stave and tell me if the ratio of early wood to late wood is too extreme? I've worked thin rings but this is super thin. Will the bow have any decent cast?  Thanks, Dismount

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[sailordad]

i would chase it  down to that first thick dark brown ring and use,but thats me.
i make a bow from evry piece of hedge i can get my grubby little fingers on.
it doesnt grow any where near here,so any hedge is good hedge to me.

[FlintWalker]

I would do as Sailordad suggested.  Whatcha got to loose?  You might be surprised at how it shoots.  Maybe make it a little longer or wider than you normally would.

[Pat B]

I would clean up the back as close to a single ring and rawhide back it. You might be surprised what you can make with a stave like that...

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[Pat B]

...62"t/t, 55#@26" about 40 rings per inch. This bow is a favorite.

[dismount]

Hey Pat, saw, salior, Thanks, guys, I've been frettin over it bad because all my good staves are about like that one. Pat I didn't know that zebra bow was that thin on the rings. Just gonna' do it.  Phil

[Pat B]

just gotta do it!!!

[Justin Snyder]

I wouldn't shoot for the first dark ring.  Nothing against that ring, just might not be a good idea. Sometimes when you try for one ring you violate it and need to shoot for the next then the next.  You wind up getting to thin and not having enough wood to make a bow.  On a bow with super thin rings it can be even worse. I would try for the first non-violated ring.  If you hit it without violating you are in business.  If you violate it go to the next.  It will be good practice and you increase your odds of having enough wood.  Justin

[Hillbilly]

I would think about decrowning that one and gluing a piece of bamboo on the back, but that's just me.

[Pappy]

I would do like Justin,I love thin ringed Osage and enjoy chasing the rings when I am by myself and in no hurry,It really passes the time.  I usually don't back them unless I know I have a ring violation
or going for a heaver weight or draw than I usually do.about 50@26.
   Pappy

[DCM]

Clean, straight, no knots I can see, I'd rip it into 9/16" quarter sawn belly cores and back 'em with boo.

But you could make a raw hide backed, cloth backed, even sinewed.

It's all good.

[dismount]

Dang, It is sooooo much less stress when you've got a place to go with your problems. Don't have to yell Momeeee.... anymore, as long as my computer works. Thanks to all   Dis.

[islandpiper]

Well, it's funny how things work out sometimes. That super-thin ringed osage is now in my shop in Louisiana.  Dismount and I worked a deal. 

Those rings are just as close in real life as they look on the pictures, maybe closer.  I'm estimating 35-40/inch in some spots.  This tree must have grown under the cover of some bigger trees. 

When I can get some time and good light I'll begin looking for one ring that follows end to end and start work........let's see, I'm 58 now, so by the time i get 'er done I may be too old to pull it. 

piper

[Pat B]

Piper, I've found with the thin ringed osage, do your best to chase a ring but back it with rawhide anyway. I like thin ringed osage. It can make an excellent bow.

[islandpiper]

I'm trying out some staining or use of a good UV light to better see the rings.  The pith wood between the hard rings is just about one-scrape-thick with a little, light weight scraper.  I may search out some thin rawhide.   piper