Why I think osage is an inferior bow wood...

[Buckeye Guy]

Ah  oo Here we go again !!
Gota love it !

[sweeney3]

ERC!  ERC!  ERC!

[4dog]

im only on pg 10.... whew!.. but i had to say this..from my limited experience building bows ive come to this conclusion...your gonna have to do SOMETHING to just about any other wood to make it perform and hold up to the KING ...heat..back...reflex...recurve..somethings gonna have to be done....OSAGE...you scrape and go!    lol..( not literally of course)...

[4dog]

and now...on to pg. 11....

[Slackbunny]

and now...on to pg. 11....

You've got a long road ahead.

[bubbles]

Just wait till the poplar paddle/bow makes an appearance! Haha

[Arrowind]

"Badger are you suggesting that  - osage just takes more punishment over time and breaks down slower? hence - "For some reason I always end up taking osage, for me it just seems to hold up the best in a high stress design." "

  Arrow, I don't like to state things like that as fact, more of an opinion. Most of my bows seem to shoot about the same from any kind wood, if the dampness is up the whitewoods seem to lag a bit. But when I do get a bow that really shines for some reason it is usually osage or yew. I have had some really fast maple bows, I love maple but at some point they seem to breakdown from where they started, usually do to being shot at moisture levels different from where they were built at. I have osage bows older than dirt that just don't seem to change.

Badger,
Understood.  I didn't read it like you were professing to state it as fact but more of a opinion based on your experience over time.  If a guy who has experience making 100's of bows from every kind of wood feels like he needs to reach for osage there is a reason for that.   I really think that many tests that are done to determine the merits of certain materials specifically with wood fall short.  There are so many variables as we all know even with the same species. The larger the numbers the more accurate the results.  Right?  In your case your experience has led you to say you reach for osage.  You have the good fortune of TIME, LARGE NUMBERS, AND EXPERIENCE which bring you to that conclusion.  Just my thinking.   Now the subject of tests.  I think a selection of 100 bows made from osage with the exact same design and mass along with 100 bows each from other woods to be compared each shot 10,000 times or some obscenely large number over a number of years would yield extremely accurate information.  Of course it would be insane to try and do that on such a large scale.  Based on what I know from those who love osage and those who have used it the results may very well lead them to conclude "I would reach for osage".     

[Bryce]

lots of ppl prefer osage. but there are some who do not prefer osage. i have seasoned osage staves and billets. the last sage bow i made was back in February. when my hands want to make a bow, they reach for yew, juniper, or vinemaple. thats not to say that osage isnt a premium bow wood. bc it is.

osage isnt my "king of bow wood"

[wood_bandit 99]

I need to try these white woods everyone is boasting about. Then I will decide which is king    but I think it may be based off of opinions that aren't necessary, price, etc., and making that play a little bit of a role in their opinion. I like the workability of non osage woods but they seem not as substantial. I think osage is the ultimate "hunting" bow. Consistent, decently fast, doesn't dent easy, easy to work with hand tools(takes longer than yew but it likes hand tools!) it is more dependable and rugged, etc. It may not be a speed demon but if it is dependable I would use it more often than any others. It is like wearing your favorite pair of pants and the new skinny jeans my peers wear. My favorite pants are dependable and rugged but I could try to fit in some skinny jeans and who knows, it may make you look awesome or something might give  who knows what is going to happen because they aren't as substantial. I worked my yew bow and love it but if I went elk hunting I am toting my osage along just because I feel it is a better partner where yew is less dependable and dents and I don't feel it as dependable

[Arrowind]

and for me Hickory is King.  I think Ryoon referred to it as white gold once. I agree.  I know it may not be the BEST bow wood but it's the best one I have access to and am currently most comfortable with... or at least the best one that I know I have access too....sometimes you just don't know what you don't know....you know?

And it sounds like for Marc  Elm is King.   or select elm.   I keep forgetting about elm.    I gotta try that one too.

[Bryce]

That's funny bandit! I hunt with a yew bow, and my back-up is a yew bow lol

[PatM]

Elm was Nature's attempt to combine Osage and Yew in one tree.

[wood_bandit 99]

Elm was Nature's attempt to combine Osage and Yew in one tree.

An than it failed and turned into a white wood there is a reason why gold and osage have the same color LOL

[PatM]

Osage tarnishes, Elm and Gold don't. 

[RyanY]

I love you guys. Finish finals a week from tomorrow!