milling question

[Stixnstones]

o.k. i got some osage i split 2 yrs ago, now i will admit i did not do a great job splitting it, left it too thin as in thickness not width. it is thin grained, and i know that combo prolly wont produce good hunting wght bows. so i was thinking of milling it down with bandsaw and tablesaw to make boards than lam them. was wondering if any of u gentlemen ( and i use that loosely ) could tell me how to go aboot this, thanx in advance

[JW_Halverson]

Does NOT take much osage to make a bow.  7/8th wide, 5/8" thick in the handle, nock to nock twice your draw length, and you got enough for a 50-55# deer killer that bends thru the handle.

[DarkSoul]

Or leave some of the sapwood on the back, so you gain some extra thickness.

[chamookman]

Myself, I prefer tighter grain Osage (not good Yew tight). The deep, thick rings a lot of Folks lust for don't seem (to Me) to have the same cast of tighter rings. Like JW said - doesn't take a lot of Osage to make a Bow, I say go for it ! Bob

[Stixnstones]

Thanx guys , gonna do the next stave as usual but still would like to try millin some

[Badger]

  You can easily mill it down on your bandsaw but a lot of it has to do with your skill level on the saw. Instructions on how to do it won't increase your skill level. If you have a lower skill level you may want to build a sled that will hold your stave as you run it against a fence. You need one flat side to get started. You will also need to learn how to set your bandsaw up to track straight when using a fence. Centering the blade on the wheels is the first place to start and then learning how to find the angle of deflection which may or may not still be present after setting up the blade. Find a web site on resawing timbers and watch some of the vidios. That will be a good place to start.

[Jim Davis]

I recently took some thin-ringed gnarly Osage and use a hatchet to take down the biggest  bumps, then ran it over  my jointer to  get that first flat side.  Then I ran it over the jointer on edge to get another flat at 90 degrees to the first flat.

Then I used my table saw to cut the piece close to limb thickness and width. Next came the planer to bring the Osage down  to  3/8" thick.

Then I planed some hickory down to 1/8" thick and glued the Osage and hickory together.

Next, I glued  on a handle block and cut out the front profile in Pyramid design.

The bow hardly needed any tillering and is one of my regular shooters.

The Osage would have been tossed out if I had not used it this way.

It's not a self bow, but it's natural materials.


Jim Davis