hickory backing question

[Emmet]

Hello
I haven't tried a hard backing like hickory before but I bought one to give it a try.
I have some Osage stave's , some clean and straight and some less then that with some snaky grain and knots.

My question is what is the better way to go for it. Use the straight clean wood or save that for un-backed bows.
will a snaky stave make a straight limb bow if backed.
I've made some selfbows that turned out to be decent by my standards but want to try something new.

[Pat B]

I never back a stave that doesn't need backing and board staves lend themselves to hard backings. And, when I build a backed bow I use the best board stave I can find.
 To build a backed bow from one of your staves you will have to decrown it, virtually make a board out of it.

[Jim Davis]

Agree with Pat B. on the flattening of the stave.  I recently backed to half staves of very uncooperative Osage. I passed them over my jointer until I had a flat surface, then ran them through my plane to make  the into  boards.

Then I glued the hickory backing on and cut out the side shapes and went from there. It worked out very nicely.  I plan to use all my twisty, knotty and thin-ringed Osage  that way from  now on.

[Emmet]

Ok, save the good stuff and use the rough stuff.

 Thanks

[bubby]

I would get some epe, makes a screaming bow

[DarkSoul]

Osage lends itself perfectly for unbacked stave bows. Even the knotty staves with plenty of character will make a selfbow if you compensate for all the defects. Lumberizing it to make it fit for a hickory backing would be a shame, in my opinion. I'd rather use true lumber instead of sacrificing a nice stave to make lumber from that. You can buy lumber in species such as ipé, massaranduba or jatoba. But also yew and osage are sometimes available.

[bubby]

Darksoul is right, I got some nice yew boards from brian at Vinemaplebows

[Jim Davis]

Well dark soul, some Osage just can't be made into a bow on its own. Some that I have cut has rings that are about as thin as two piece of paper. Other examples twist 180 or more degrees in five feet. You are probably wise enough to leave those types in the woods. But I am so desperate for Osage,  that  I bring them home.  With a hickory backing, they work great.

I AM glad some folks have access to better material, and I'll keep looking. Until I find good stuff, I'll use the bad stuff this way.

I  do have a couple of good staves and a good pair  of billets that were given to me. I'm saving them for when I am relaxed and calm to make sure I don't ruin them.

[DarkSoul]

Nothing wrong with a hickory backed osage bow. I didn't say you couldn't or shouldn't make one. All I said was that it would be a shame to turn a character stave of osage into lumber. But it sure is better to have a hickory backed osage bow than to have a broken osage selfbow! If you really think that a particular stave has no viable option as a selfbow, then go ahead and turn it into lumber. But if you are specifically looking for lumber for your hickory backing, I wouldn't choose an otherwise fine osage stave. I'd rather mill a whole log into staves than mill a stave into lumber. Much more efficient as well.
By the way, a stave that is twisted 180 degrees would cause too much grain run out if you lumberize it. It probably wouldn't even survive with a hickory backing.

[Jim Davis]

By the way, a stave that is twisted 180 degrees would cause too much grain run out if you lumberize it. It probably wouldn't even survive with a hickory backing.

Uh, oh. Now I'm going to have to try that....