osage longbow build-along/help-along(full draw pictures)

[youngbowyer]

I finally got time to start working on my osage stave that i received from george stoneberg.
Got a new drawknife for christmas yesterday and it work great. A lot better than my old mora drawknife which was terrible.
Anyway just squared up the stave yesterday  here are some pictures.

[El Destructo]

Tom...now that You have time and tools...you can get started...but do Us all a Favor...post some bigger and better pictures than this one...keep them close to 200kbs...this one is smaller than a Thumbnail...JMO

[youngbowyer]

Im sorry about the pictures it was taken with my iPod. I took these yesterday and the normal camera wasn't available to me. I'll post some progress later but it's snowing outside and I work on my bows outside.

[gstoneberg]

Good to see you getting started on it.  I sure hope it works out well for you.  Your picture is also upside down for some reason.  I took a stab at making it a little easier to look at.  Good luck with the bow.

George

[youngbowyer]

I squared up the stave today. It will be ready for final dimensions tomorrow. This is what i got done so far





That knot in the 3rd picture has me worried, ill probably just rasp it away and leave some wood around it.

[Pat B]

As long as your belly follows the the contours of the back you should be OK unless the knot is not sound. 

[youngbowyer]

I found the center line of the bow with a string and im kinda worried. The string is like half a centimeter away from  the handle because the lower limb bends away from the handle. Here is a picture of it.


Should i steam bend it out once i get closer to final dimensions or can i get away with it?

[Badger]

Several years ago I built a long bow from osage. 140#@30". To this day i can't figure out what happened with that bow. Was the biggest dog I ever built in my life. I chalked it up to bad wood and cut the bow down to normal size and made 60# flatbow from it that came out great. All I can figure is that the wood must not have been as dry as I thought it was. I could brace the bow as easily as a 70# bow even though it was 76"long and slightly reflexed. Early draw weight was very low. Been wanting to get some more osage and try another one, made plenty in the 70 and 80# class that came out great.

[JW_Halverson]

Once you are closer to final dimensions you can use dry heat to bend it easily enough.  Just don't try to take out that kink with that dead knot, the grain will be all kinds of crazy in that area.  Pick a few spots that are clear grained and several smaller adjustments will add up to what you need to correct the wandering wood.

[gstoneberg]

Tom,

That frustrates me because that spot was straight before I sawed the stave in half so you could have 2 staves.  Its like there was stored up stress in that spot and the minute it was cut both sides bent there.  Maybe it would have been better if I'd left it whole...  I just wanted you to get 2 staves..not sure it was worth it.

George

[youngbowyer]

It will be fine I think. My heat gun will be able to fix it. One limb is already close to being done but it only bend around 3 inches so I'm guessing it's around 80lbs right now.I'll just have to tiller it slowly ,gradually introducing flex into the bow.more pictures will follow tomorrow

[youngbowyer]

i'm almost done guys! Just need to thin out both limbs because right now its around 80 lbs. I just used some dry heat to get rid of that bend and its clamped up right now and ill get back to it in an hour. Here are some pictures



That knot got a bit brittle and dry while i was using the heat gun so i filled it up with sawdust and superglue

[youngbowyer]

Hey guys i got about 3 inches of brace height on the bow today. Final tillering will be done tomorrow. Its around 70 lbs at 28 inches so i will have to remove more wood till its around 60 lbs. Here are some pictures.




That little bend is really annoying me, it just doesn't look right for a longbow. I'm tempted to turn this into a flatbow, what do you guys think?

[gstoneberg]

Tom, I really thought I sent you a straighter stave than that.  I am so sorry,  Is that bend where you did the superglue repair?  I was wondering if you could bend that spot, but it might be risky.

As long as there's sufficient wood in the bow (or extra length you can pike) to make the weight you want, you can make a flatbow out of it.  I don't know why it wouldn't have that same dip in it though.

George

[youngbowyer]

George i really shouldn't be complaining about the stave. Even if you did send me a stave full of twists and snakes i would have been happy. Its the fact that you took time and effort to send me this stave that counts. Anyway i decided i would keep with the longbow design and i finished it up! It pulls 60 lbs at 28 inches. Ill sand, stain, and add horn nocks tomorrow. Ill get some better dull draw pictures outside tomorrow. here are the pictures.





More pictures to follow tomorrow. I have a question though, i have it braced to 5 inches should i increase it to 6 or will 5 inches do fine?