Questioning Growth Rings on Osage

[koan]

Hey all, just lookin for opinions here... In my early days of cutting/ collecting osage I didnt really know the difference between good and bad growth ring ratio. I have alot of staves that are very clean and well seasoned but the ratio of summer/ spring growth is not that good. Got alot that are 50/50 and even more that are also extremely thin ringed. I have built a couple bows from them in the past and they survived...but they wernt by any means high stressed designs... In my opinion cast suffers, they take more set, and I found out the hard way it dont like to be recurved with dry heat  . Also.. would they be alright to back with hickory & bamboo? Or would that be a waste of good backings? Should i just have a bonfire, lol?... Brian

[George Tsoukalas]

No, just make them a little wider. Jawge

[Danzn Bar]

I've got the same issue with one of the first osage trees I cut.  I want to use the wood and not for firewood, so I've been doing a little research and found out that decrowning the back and backing with hickory or boo would work well.

I'm not real sure how to flatten the back of a stave unless you use a belt sander, and I don't think I'm good enough to get it nice and flat to glue a hic or boo backing.  But I've found that two part epoxy is better than TBIII for that type of glue up.

I'll be interested in you responses also,
Thanks
DBar

[Badger]

   I made a bunch of bows last year from Steve Millbrockers stash. All was super fined ring like yew. It made fantastic bows, Didn't bend quite as easily with heat but did bend. None of the bows took any set at all to speak of and all performed very well. It made a believer out of me. I did make them a tad wider as Jawge suggested.

[koan]

Sounds like good advice to me, thanks folks!

[Poggins]

I haven't worked any thin ringed osage yet but know someone that likes it , he claimes it makes a snapper bow , uses the same profile as any other bow . It all depends on how thick the early growth rings are , the thinner the better .

[Joec123able]

My opinion is that all Osage no matter thin or thick ringed is awesome so if you guys don't like your thin ringed Osage send it to me !!

[koan]

The thin ring osage i have is also bout 50/50 on the ratio and was my main concern... My mind tells me that thats half the wood so i should make a bow twice the normal dimensions, lol. I know thats not right however .. When i get my other projects finished up i will give it a go and see.

[Fred Arnold]

Not a lot of experience here so take this with a grain of salt but "from what I've read" there seems to be a consensus that size of late growth rings, tight, medium, wide doesn't matter as much as whether the early growth rings are dominate. When early growth rings are larger than the late rings I was taught to pass on that stave.

[koan]

Me to Fred.. Im thinkin of takin a worst case stave like that and cut it edge grain and back it with hickory or trapped ash and see how it performs

[crooketarrow]

  I've made 40 or 50 OSAGE bows. I made both some so thin If I'd had to follow rings it take a good whille and I've made osage bows where the limbs was one ring. I don't shoot good enough to tell the difference.
  The only difference is when I have to follow a ring. Thicker takes. There's many other things that affect the bows preformace a lot more the the thickness of rings.

[hedgeapple]

Interesting topic.  I want to follow this one.

[Badger]

  I have always had to buy my osage, mostly on e ebay. I have also had quite a few guys in the forums swap me for some good osage. My favorite osage has come from Tennessee and Illinoise, some very good stuff from Michigan, Ohio and Mississippi are also high on my lst. My least favorite comes from kansas, missouri, and some other mid west states. I can't seem to tell the difference by looking at it. The density seems to be the biggest tip off for quality but I have had exceptions thier also.

[koan]

Steve, from what ive seen I would have to agree mostly.. The osage I have got from Tenn & Kentucky seems to be more dense.. However, those staves were premium that i bought or traded for, where as my local Mo osage is mostly pest tree's that folks want gone. I havent went lookin locally for that "perfect" tree so my observation may be a little skewed.... Brian