"Second String" woods?

[Gordon]

If I had to survive off my bow-making and hunting skills, I would rather live near a forest of yew or osage than any other tree I can think of.  Fortunately I don't so I can enjoy working with less desirable species to see what I can do with them.

[DanaM]

Haven't worked with osage or yew yet, I have an osage stave drying so will get a chance to soon. I'm sure they are both
superb bow woods but I also thing most of our opinions are based on the what we read in the various books. Personally
I think alot of what is written gives new bowyers false impressions and discourages them from trying to make a bow. Many
of the books give the impression that anything other than a few select woods is a recipe for disaster therefore their not promoting the art
but hindering it by being prejudiced and close minded about the reality of bow making. With the proper design almost any wood will make a bow.

[Justin Snyder]

Steve, you are right, Osage is amazing.  I have read numerous times that it is a difficult wood for a new bowyer.  I don't entirely understand that comment.  My limited experience is that it is so durable it is difficult to mess up beyond repair. And yes, it sure bends nice.  Justin

[Hillbilly]

I can't deny that osage is great wood and tough as nails and I love it, wish there was more of it around here. I've never had the chance to work with yew, so I can't give an informed opinion on that. I will say that you can build a great bow out of almost any reasonably dense and supple wood if it's designed right, and you can also build a horribly inefficient and ghastly-shooting bow from any wood, including osage and yew.

[Gordon]

I only worked with osage once when I was retillering the Northern Community bow but it was obvious that this was some special wood. I've only made one bow out of yew (bamboo backed). It is super light, very narrow and I can shoot that bow hard for hours at a time and it goes right back to its reflexed profile when unbraced - not even a hint of set. There are not many other wood species that could do that.

[George Tsoukalas]

Tom Brady was a second stringer at Michigan, his  alma mater. When he graduated from college he backed  up Drew  Bledsoe on the New England Patriots for a couple of years. When Bledsoe got hurt  Brady took over and won a Superbowl that year. 2 other Superbowls followed.  2 Superbowl mvp's too. MVP of the league this year. Offensive player of the year-this year. Holds the record for TD passes (50). Completed 26 out of 28 passes last game. One man's second stringer is another man's Hall of Famer. Just having some fun. I think the above may have  a bow making application or 2 or 3. Jawge

[Justin Snyder]

Tom Brady was a second stringer at Michigan, his  alma mater. When he graduated from college he backed  up Drew  Bledsoe on the New England Patriots for a couple of years. When Bledsoe got hurt  Brady took over and won a Superbowl that year. 2 other Superbowls followed.  2 Superbowl mvp's too. MVP of the league this year. Offensive player of the year-this year. Holds the record for TD passes (50). Completed 26 out of 28 passes last game. One man's second stringer is another man's Hall of Famer. Just having some fun. I think the above may have  a bow making application or 2 or 3. Jawge

George Confucius Tsoukalas

[George Tsoukalas]

LOL. More like- George "Confuse us" Tsoukalas. Jawge

[Ryano]

I think JD would agree with me on this.  
It seems as though some of you you are afraid to admit, that yes, some woods are better than others for building bows.....why that is, I'll never understand........

 I may be a young fella here but I have probally made more bows out of more different kinds of wood then a lot of you here.
 Let's see I've been at it for like 9 years now I think. I've made numerous bows of pignut hickory,shagbark hickory,Hard maple,slippery elm, American elm, hophornbeam,black locust,red oak, white oak,white ash,black cherry, and Osage orange.
 
I've made a least one bow of yew, mulberry, choke cherry, wild apple, honey locust.....and some others I couldn't identify.
(granted I will admit, I can't be 100% certain of my opinion on this group with only one bow built)

I do feel that I have had enough experience building wooden bows to tell myself that not one of these other woods can do what Osage can do. I can't even begin to understand why some of you that haven't ever even worked with the wood or worked with it very little would, act like you know what its all about. When you've built 50 or 100 Osage bows if you still feel that one of these second string woods is better, then I'll listen.  Just because you don't have access to it locally or you don't have any experience with it, that doesn't some how make some another wood just as good or better, thats just stupid.......

[mullet]

    Ryan, I'm right there with you. I've made 2 ELB's out of Yew. And broke 3 flat bows. But all the trading I do for different wood and the Bamboo and staves and other primitive supplies I collect go towards trading or buying more Osage.We have the biggest Mountainman Rendezvous in the US here next week. I go every year just to buy staves of Osage. To me, day in and day out, as an all condition bow wood,weather wise you can't beat it. And something Steve(Badger) said about overbuilding with it. That's not a bad thing if you are making a bow to sell to someone that's not familiar with self bows.

[Justin Snyder]

Ryan, I dont think anyone is saying some woods arent better than others. I certainly love Osage.  Especially for different designs.  That is what this whole discusion was about.  I think Brian said it best.

Second string woods are anything but osage and yew or woods that traditionally werent used for bows....I think we have all kinda gone past that mentality now.... Brian

We know there are woods that are considered 1st and second string and that is what started the discussion. They are called alternatives. Read Jawge's post, it says it all. Justin

[George Tsoukalas]

The truth is I feel strongly both ways. May be I missed my calling. I shoulda been a politician. Osage is an excellent bow wood. I do like working with it. I do know why all the osagians love it. I just dislike the terms "first string" and "second  string" bow woods. I like  hickory and other whitewoods too. I just thought that after many bows (close to 200 now-not a bad # for an amateur) and close to 20 years of bow making I could choose my own "first string" woods and my first stringers may not be another's. Guess I was wrong.  I have fun with this  bow stuff. Now Pats, Celtics and  Red Sox. That's what I take seriously. Tom Brad rocks ha? Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

Tom Brady that is.

[Badger]

This past year at the flight shoots I broke my own world record in the broadhead shoot for the third year in a row with an osage bow, a guy came along a few minutes later and beat me with a hickory bow and took my record away. The bow came from a very arid climate in New Mexico. Next year I will dry my osage bow out a bit with a heat gun and try to blow that hickory bow back out of the water. And the year after that someone might come back with a maple bow and beat both of us. truth is I had a whole stack of bows from all kinds of woods that all shot about the same. I usually grab the osage just because I feel a little more confident with it if it rains and the moisture comes up. Steve

[mullet]

  Jawge, It would be fun to see Tom and Brett go head to head.