short Osage bow?

[Hillbilly]

If it has good rings, you shouldn't have any problem getting what you want from it. It doesn't take much osage to make a bow. Don't think I'd try a Holmegaard, though-i think it's a better design for lighter white woods. I'd do like Pappy said, and maybe flip the last 2"-3" of the tips up a little.

[Mechslasher]

you could get 27" out of a piece of 56-58" osage being 1.5" wide at the fade.  you could even go with a 1.5" long fade.  osage is some wonderfull wood.  i've made a bow pulling 50#@28" out of a 52" stave, just go slow.  you could always heat treat the belly for some extra insurance.

[petew]

Thanks for all the great suport and sugestions.  I will try to take some photos as I go on this one and post them.
 Pete

[DCM4]

I made a handful of bows years back for a kind of challenge, or contest, criteria was 60# @ 28" and no more than 58" ntn.

This was one was spliced billets deflexed with the limbs recurved slightly w/ kerfs.  It was not the best of the lot.



This one (the bottom bow) was a simple selfbow.  Only pic I have to give you a sense of the width taper.



Here's the one cited above (on the left here) at full draw.  Beside it a very similar one but with slightly stiffer outer limbs and arrow pass slightly higher.



None of these were over 1 1/2" wide, with a typical flatbow taper, although the first bow more pyramid-like width taper.  They all took about 2" of set, following the string about an 1" depending upon where they started.  All seemed to shoot fairly well.

You should be fine if you have decent wood.  It ain't for free by any measure, but definately doable if you take your time and mind yer manners.

I'd discourage a cut in rest in favor of one built up from leather, perhaps as much for personal preference as structural strenght.  While folks seem to do fine with cut in rests, I fear it introduces a weak point, unnecessarily in my view.