Author Topic: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !  (Read 4386 times)

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Offline Stick Bender

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Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« on: December 05, 2017, 05:00:27 pm »
I made my 3 rd osage bow this year for the 2017 hunting season  and it was the first one I made with out any induced reflex that actualy held reflex ,but when unstrung at first it would have about 1/8 soft set and then return to normal reflex after about 15 min. after several months and probably 700-800 or more arrows it actually gained reflex and instantly returns to full reflex when unstrung, at first I just chalked it up to decreasing RH mine is averaging 42% inside now but talked to a friend about it and told me he experienced the same with most of his osage bows after post curing but it surprised me as this stave was 2 years off the stump and inside for almost a year before I started on it ,I was just curious what others have experienced , I had another pick up a lot of draw weight but not more reflex ?
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2017, 06:18:29 pm »
I'm guessing the moisture had a lot to do with it
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline Badger

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2017, 06:30:25 pm »
  Osage seems to cure and improve with age, your may have had moisture but maybe not. My broadhead flight bow I used for about 10 years. I used it for 3-d and occasional hunting and target practice most of the time. Every year at the flights I had to scrape off about 2 or 3# to make the 50# limits. I didn't go every year but at least 5 times I had to reduce weight. Also every year it shot progressively further by just a tad.

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2017, 06:36:04 pm »
i have an osage bow that was heavy,, 20  years ago, I am afriad to weigh it ,, if I get it strung,,:) 

Offline Badger

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2017, 07:53:03 pm »
  Brad, you should string it up an weigh it for the hell of it. I find the majority of my bows stay pretty consistent over the years. I like the ones that improve with age

Offline bushboy

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2017, 12:16:30 am »
Osage orange is by far my favorite!too bad it is so expensive to get shipped north of the 49!  It's gold colored for a reason!
Some like motorboats,I like kayaks,some like guns,I like bows,but not the wheelie type.

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2017, 06:23:34 am »
I always suspected there is somthing else going on to if the some bows still needs adjustment years later and what I didnt mention in the opening post is I dried this stave in my make shift hot box over severale weeks to, but if its years later with some bows what maybe ? harding of the resins in the wood I relies its hard to talk apples to apples as osage quality varies a lot and some are not affected the same , but its some thing I think about when designing a bow.
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2017, 06:59:51 am »
I had two osage bows made from wood seasoned for 10 years gain poundage after I made them, one gained 10#, go figure.

Offline BowEd

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2017, 07:40:42 am »
It can seem a little like a mystery but I feel there is something to this seasoning thing.The mystery is how it seems to affect some and not others.It's one thing to watch and check though before grabbing a laid up bow favorite to shoot.
I feel some woods don't handle it as well either if there is any borderline issues about it.Logical thinking sways to the reasoning that the back has become dryer,but I think there is more to it than that yet.
I have the same thing happen to a few of the bows here too.It's like an old timer here making a pond and putting in large osage posts in for structure for the fish told me once about osage.In time they will turn into iron.....lol.
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2017, 08:19:14 am »
30 year old wood can be too wet to make a bow. The day it was cut means absolutely nothing, its where its kept after the fact that matters. I've never had a bow change to the point I noticed it, but I've heard of it a few times.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline BowEd

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2017, 09:04:49 am »
Good topic Ritch....The bow you referred to gaining reflex over time from natural reflex after tillering is the best kind I think.Better more so yet then heat induced reflex bows.You got yourself a good one there.I had that happen with these sapling bows from osage too.Showing close to a gain of 1/4" of reflex after shooting and resting today more so then when originally tillered.Unbraced after shooting it showed around 1/4" soft set to be returned to it's new reflex of a scooch over 3"TTT in well under 2 hours.I tillered it after being inside roughed out to only 5 to 10 pounds above my intended draw weight for 2 to 3 months at 50% humidity then stored at 50% humidity over the next year.It was made last november.I just checked the draw weight on it here and the poundage did not increase much though.Maybe 1/2# at the most.How about yours?
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 09:48:27 am by BowEd »
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2017, 09:39:34 am »
I didnt re weight yet Ed  but shot it a bunch the weekend before and at the end of hunting yesterday if it picked up weight its minimal or maybe Im just not noticing  but seems more snappy I will check it at the end of season still have a pocket full of tags to fill yet hopefully ! This is the bow I beefed up the lower to mids on really seem to help with the profile pulling to 29 1/4 !
If you fear failure you will never Try !

Offline BowEd

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2017, 09:46:02 am »
Yes we must not forget that it was tillered well too for the design.
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline Badger

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2017, 02:50:23 pm »
  David Miimms sent me an elm bow blank several years ago. It was really just a few scrapes away from being finished. It was my go to bows for years. Same thing I had to keep lowering the weight at least a couple of times a year. I attributed it to moisture but I never needed that much time for my wood to reach an equal Librium.

Offline BowEd

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Re: Osage the wood that keeps on giving !
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2017, 04:55:19 pm »
Yes I gotta agree it usually does'nt even take hardly a month to equalize if roughed out close to the draw weight for me to tiller it.When after being tillered the time is less yet.When a person finds a way to store them in a stable enviornment it seems they find their place to stay.
It's the only time it's advantagous to keep a slew of bows around to check on them.I try to keep a record after tillering what the bow was and what it did with what it was in a notebook.A little more than just the poundage at what draw length signed on the limb.As I don't do that as often as I should.
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed