Set Question (pics)

[woody]

The book that tought me about instinctive shooting is..."Instinctive Shooting" by G. Fred Asbel. He believes in a fluid stance and draw and it fit my liking from the start. Fred usually has a few articles in the archery magazines about shooting and solving shooting problems. Easy read and very informative.
   With osage, you will fair better with a bow that is narrower than the 2" you used. That may have also added to the suceptability to take set. 1 3/8" to 1 5/8" is usually good for osage, with a straight taper to 3/8"tips. I'm in the process of making an osage bow that is 7/8" to 3/4" for most of its length and 61" long. She pulls 42#@24" but I haven't finished sanding yet so it may be a bit less. If I had concentrated on this splinter I could have easily gotten 45# or more at 26".  It doesn't take much osage to make a good bow. Osage has good compression strengths so a thicker but narrow limb is possible and prefered.
   Your stave could have had a bit more moisture even after a year. If stave had been taken down to almost bow size it would dry quicker. An old rule of thumb is 1 year per inch of thickness.
   Now! go get started with that new bow! Take your time, don't draw it past its ultimate draw length or weight and exercise the limbs between wood removal...and
Take plenty of pics.    Pat

Yes Sir!

[GregB]

Woody, something to think about that I've always found critical in shooting.

Consider your hand holding the string like you would the rear sight of a rifle. If you vary the location of your anchor point, arrow placement on target will vary as well. Have a consistent anchor that you're comfortable with. I use my middle finger in the right corner of my mouth. My head is also rotated slightly to the right while anchored (I'm right handed).

Also I've found that "follow through" is very important. Try to keep your bow arm solid through and after the shot. Don't drop your arm which is what is normally natural just to get rid of the weight and stress of pulling the bow. I try to keep the bow as if at full draw until the arrow hits the target. Body stance varies between people, but I quarter into the bow. I'm not straight across the shoulders/back area as would be the case for shooting a compound.

[jamesw319]

looks like too much set. try it under fire at 25 yds,,,,,,,what does it do       if doen't meet the mark, you still can have fun with it,,,,,,, i still have alot of fun with my  mistakes........    who said ,,,,no bow is a faliure   ..........now work for the hunting bow ,,,,or what ever bow you want//////// ............most clubs have  3D shoots  which you can test your bow,,,this is what i do with my new creations,........  best way to test them under fire  .........its not good and bad thing,,and forget making bows//////,,,it an ongoing  learning experience.....have fun...good luck...my mistakes are disheartening,,,but my sucesses are 10 fold///////////
                                                                                          jpw

[venisonburger]

My first bows had alot of set, still get some from time to time, It's a fine bow, shoot it and enjoy it. unless it's a dog when you shoot it you can hunt with it, get your form down and when you're hitting where you want  try hunting with it.
I also think the finish is very nice
VB

[Badger]

Woody, I would check the bows cast, if it has sufficient cast you will feel confident about it's ability to take a deer, if not you can either rework this bow or simply make another , which I imagine you are allready planning on doing anyway. If you can shoot a 500 grain arrow about 150 yards or so deer should be no problem. Your demensions are pretty conservative but I think you may have left it a bit too stiff near the handle, just not quite enough working limb to hadle the stress but still a nice bow. Steve

[medicinewheel]

hey woody!  -  don't know whether this was mentioned before, but if i imagine an arrow in the full draw i'd say your draw hand is a good deal above the nockpoind; that may hurt the tiller as well as an overdraw, i guess! that' a lesson i had to learn once... (let's not talk about it  )

to the fellow bowyers: i didn't see this mentioned either, and maybe that's stupid: that looks like a simetrical bow; wouldn't it make sence to have the bow upside down??

woddy, that's not a bad beginner's bow at all! yes, keep trying: lot of fun in getting better 

frank

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

I would still try to correct it with some good belly tempering and little tiller touch up, can't hurt it and if anything else will be good practice, both for the eye and the use of tools, ...never enougth practice.

piking and switching top and bottom limbs migth be a good way to correct the bo too.