Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: H Rhodes on April 06, 2012, 07:41:06 am
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Okay, this is my first attempt at an osage bow. The stave is a three inch limb that I cut from a downed tree that had been bulldozed into a brush pile and partially burned. It was pushed down over a year ago and I believe it is dry enough to start on. I cut this stave a little over a month ago and have been working on it off and on since then. I will bring you up to date with what I have done so far and try to finish the build and post in real time from this point on. I have never posted a build along and my photos are not the best, but here goes. I am shooting for a 60" bend thru the handle, mollegabet styled, 45 - 50lb, unbacked bow. Here is the stave at the beginning.
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Here is an end view of the rings...
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That was a pitiful photo.... anyway. I picked a nice thick ring about about two rings down and began working with the drawknife and chased the ring from one end to the other. Working with osage has made me appreciate the ease of construction with the whitewoods that I have worked with previously. Tough stuff. The tools that I am using are a hatchet, shur form rasp, draw knife, nicholson rasp, sandpaper, and chainsaw file for the nocks.
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This is a very straight piece of osage with only one knot of any size. It is reflexed about 5" on one end. I am going to remove some belly wood and see some pretty extensive drying checks on the belly which run end to end. None run off the edge, so from what I have read, these shouldn't be a problem.
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Looking forward to seeing how it works out.Good looking piece of wood. :)
Pappy
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Thanks Pappy. I am curious to see how it turns out too! lol. I am a little disorganized and apologize for the order of things here... Presently I have this bow at low brace, 50# at 21" It is coming along okay. I am trying to get my posting up to date so that I can finish in real time.
Now back to a few weeks ago.... I removed the bark and sapwood, and then continued with the drawknife down to a single ring for the back. The stave was reflexed on one end but not the other.
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I began my rough shaping with the hatchet. I work at a pretty slow pace and removed wood generally from one end to the other till it's about an inch thick or a little thicker from one end to the other. I left the tips over an inch wide at first so that they wouldn't be so prone to twist. I went to the shurform rasp and worked the belly down flat. I decided to steam bend the straight limb to match the reflexed one... This i accomplished on the kitchen stove with a pot of boiling water. I steamed the limb - about mid limb, since I have plans for the tips later, for about an hour and then used some wood blocks and a large C clamp to induce reflex.
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Here is how it looked after the steaming. ;)
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Okay, I will have to post more later. I will try to get this build along up to date and provide a little more detail and hopefully, some better photos. I am enjoying this one so far. I have built bows from hickory, pecan, oak, and elm.... but this osage orange is brand new territory for me. I am going to need some advice before it is all done from you experienced guys. This was about a three inch diameter limb.... I can see the pithy core, now that I am well into tillering this bow. So far, I am just ignoring it. I am not sure how much of it will be visible when the bow is finished or how I am supposed to finish the limb's core... It may have a little ditch running up the belly! The drying cracks haven't been a problem so far. I filled them up with super glue and just act like I don't see them. I am sure I am going to learn a bunch on this one. Thanks for looking. more next week.
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Bows can look nice with the pith showing on the belly and it shouldn't be a problem. Branch staves like to check upto the pith sometimes but if it's dry already then no problem.
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Lookin good, so far. Good job getting that bend even. I gotta try me some steam. Thanks for taking the time for the build a long. I learn so much from these.
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I usually scrap out the styrofoamy material in the pith and either leave it empty or fill it with beeswax while finishing the bow if the finish is a beeswax finish.
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I will have to try some beeswax.. I have never used it before. So far the pithy core isn't just crumbling out, so I am not worrying about it for now. I am to the floor tillering stage in these next photos.... I am shooting for a molle style bow and these photos show the beginnings of the tips being narrowed and left thick the last eleven inches or so... Other than a center line mark and a halfway mark, I haven't drawn any lines on the bow... I am just going by what looks right to me. That is probably not the best approach, but it seems to work for me. I am not shooting for a work of art on this project. I am building a tool to hunt with and it won't be anything too fancy. I am the function over form guy. lol.
I narrowed the tips a bit using first a sharp hatchet, employing slow careful chops. I continued the narrowing with the stanley shurform rasp, which I use a lot. As my tillering progresses I alternate between the rasp and the cabinet scraper. It is pretty slow going, but slow is good. I mean, what the heck? when i finish this one, I will just have to do another one!!
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I worked the belly down till the bow is bending a few inches at floor tiller. I went to the long string and put it on the tillering tree and began the process of teaching this wood to bend. I rasped the belly down flat and narrowed the tips down to about a half inch wide. The rough nocks are from some short deer antler overlays and a little work with the rattail file. I attached the overlays with titebond 3 and clamped them overnight. The bow is 1 3/8" wide on what I think will be the upper limb and an inch and a half on the lower limb. Still pretty stiff at this point.
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A pic beginning the long stringing. I am pleased at this point with the way the longitudinal belly checks are disappearing as the tillering/rasping continues...
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I am still trying to catch up on my posts. I work shift work and have to leave this project hanging more than I would like. I got the back sanded pretty smooth and sealed it with spray shellac. I have been spraying the whole bow with shellac when I have to leave it for a few days. It seems plenty dry, but I am a little paranoid about finding a new drying crack.... So far the shellac, or maybe just good karma, has prevented that. More to follow. :)
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You just plain NAILED it with the steam job. Good work.
One of the tools you forgot to list was bulldozer...even if someone else actually drove it, it's still one of the tools involved!!!
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Ha! Yeah, the dozer work and the subsequent burning helped this project along. I was lucky to find such a piece of wood in a burn pile. Thanks JW. I was tickled with the way that osage bends... It is sort of ironic that it responds so well to steaming and bending while being so doggone hard and tough. I see what all the fuss is about. I am liking this yellow wood!
I did some work on it yesterday afternoon. I worked the nocks down a bit with the rasp, so they don't look quite so rough now. I went back to the very low brace and the tillering tree and excersized the limbs 20 or 30 pulls and checked to see if the limbs were bending evenly. Had to work on the upper limb a bit with the rasp and followed it up with the cabinet scraper and got the limbs bending pretty evenly.
Once they were bending evenly, I braced the bow at about 3 inches. I excercised the limbs a little at that brace height and checked that they were still bending evenly. I see that my string is out of alignment and I will be steaming and bending tomorrow to get the string bisecting the handle. I began work on the handle by glueing on two rectangles of heavy tool leather soaked in super glue. I knocked the corners off the hard leather with the rasp and am encouraged that this thing is really looking like a bow. I pulled the bow to 50lbs @ 22" at the 3 inch brace height today.
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Here is the next issue that I will have to tackle.... The string is not centered and I am planning on inducing a lateral bend to try and make it bisect the handle. I am a little concerned about this because the dog leg in the bow is right where the biggest knot is located. I left the knot proud on the back and I am thinking about where to induce the bend... I don't want to torque the bow sideways and damage it at the knot.... I would appreciate any advice any of you experienced osage guys might have to offer.
The rest of this build along is in real time.
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Here is the bow at 3" brace height on the tiller tree.
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If I have to tweak a limb, I often pick the STRAIGHTEST section to heat and bend. After all, that wood will take more abuse than the spot with a knot in the middle of it.
George Stoneberg will have a laugh thinking of me ADDING character to a stave when I give him so much guff about his crappy wood! >:D
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That is sort of what I tried to do today, JW. I steamed and bent this offending limb and got the string tracking closer to center. I put the bow over a small pot of water and tried to do the bending a little ways below the big knot. It worked out good, since the string is now bisecting the handle more like it should. This thing is looking more like a bow every day. I also took a pic of the tips which are 3/8" at the tip and keeping that width back to the second fades. I used a very small overlay of antler. I am trying to keep my tips light weight. Here are few more pics...
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My method for straightening the bow this time was pretty straight forward. I got some pot holders on my hands and took it off the pot and bent it against a folded towel on my kitchen counter. Not too scientific, I know... but I steamed it for about 30 minutes and then bent it until it looked about straight and then bent it just a little more and held it there for a few minutes. Once it cooled I put the string on it and liked what I saw. I think with a lateral bend like this, where the bow won't be flexing to undo my work, it didn't matter much that I didn't have it cooling off and drying while clamped in a form.
Here is a pic of the tips too.
I am enjoying this bow building stuff! I had worked off an 11-7 shift and couldn't wait to get home and get started on it... It is an affliction! anyway..... I have to get on with some serious tillering work over the next few days, so I am gonna try to curb my enthusiasm and SLOW down. Nothing but the cabinet scraper from here on out. She is pulling 50# @ 22" on a 3 inch brace right now. More to follow.
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Good looking bow, and nice build-along. You're funny JW.
George
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Looking good,if it was me I would let it dry out good before tillering or even stringing it after the steaming.jmo. :)
Pappy
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Looking good man, thanks for sharing! I've been told dry heat for dry bows and wet heat for wet bows. So at this point you could have just held the bow over the heat/flame/heat gun instead of steaming. What you did worked great but you'll just have to keep an eye on whether you put mositure back into the limb. Or so I'm told. :P Can't wait to see more!!
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You're funny JW.
George
Must be referring to my looks. >:(
That wood will take up plenty of moisture when steaming, be sure to give it plenty of time to come back to normal moisture before you put any bend to it!!! No sense undoing all the good work you have put into her already. I mean that, you are doing great.
I can tell you are enjoying the process because every time I log on here you have posted something else you have done for the bow. That's a sure sign of the addiction. You may claim you can quit at any time, but you don't. You just don't. >:D
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Im really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
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Thanks for the advice guys. Pappy, since the last steam bending, all I have done is put a long string on it to check the alignment. How long would you wait for it to dry before resuming the bending and tillering? I have high hopes for this bow and sure don't want to mess it up.
I did consider using dry heat, but have never done it before. Thanks for the kind words and the help. I am glad to have PA to turn to - you guys have no idea how much you have helped me with my first bows, back when I was just lurking. This is a great website!
You are right JW, I am a full blown junky! If something won't let me sleep after a midnight shift, it is an obsession.
I have a little more roughing in work to do on the handle. I am planning on glueing up an arrow rest from some tool leather. That will be my next step.
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I would give it at least a couple of days in a good dry place,I usuall only steam once unless I am making some server bends,I make all the minor corrections with dry heat,then you only need to wait till it's cools, a hour or so. Looking good.
Pappy
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Thanks for the tip Pappy. I will have to give dry heat a try on the next one that needs tweeking. I should have more progress to post next week.
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I have made some very fine bows from Livingston 'sage... My boss has a cabin and some land off McCainsville Rd. in Livingston that I hunt every year, 2 years ago he let me cut some osage from there. Good stuff. Can't wait to see how your bow turns out. Looking great so far! :)
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Thanks Josh. You will have to let me know next time you are in town! Yeah, we are blessed with good bow wood all around Sumter County. I know McCainville Road. There are some really pretty camps in that part of the county and it is infested with ERC and osage.
Had a slight set back on my bow over the weekend.... Nothing catastrophic, just a rookie's mistake. I started tillering and realized that one limb really needed to bend closer to the handle. It is going to be a bendy handled bow, and I guess I was overly enthusiastic, in that I had already glued some leather to build up the grip area.... That had to come off. So, a little steam on the handle to loosen up the glue and it came right off. I will be back to tillering tomorrow. Living and learning! I should have gotten it tillered out before thinking about handles.... Oh well.... other than that little screw up, it is coming along nicely. More to come....
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Tillered out to 50lbs at 28". Alternated between the rasp and the scraper and checked for flat spots and hinges with my handy dandy 4" long scrap of 1 X 2. Still have to do a little tweeking here and there and this bow actually will finish out at about 46#. Shot my first arrow out of it this evening and I am liking it. Just unstrung the bow, shows zero string follow.... checked it three hours later and it is back to about an inch of reflex. Now, I will think about glueing the leather up for the handle and arrow rest. Hopefully I will have a better full draw pic - my photographer was in a hurry....
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Looking really nice ;)
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Thanks soy. I see why so many folks prefer osage orange. It is amazing stuff. I read in a post on this site somewhere that "it doesn't take much osage to make a bow". I see what they were talking about. This was not a very big limb to start with... only about 3" diameter. Osage rocks.
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Yes it dose ;) welcome to the yella fever >:D
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You should be very proud of that fine bow. Excellent job !
Tracy
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Thanks so much Tracy. I am and I have really enjoyed building this one, so far. I am gonna do a little finishing work on it and see if I can't get some better photos of it posted in the near future. Thanks to everyone for looking and helping out.
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Looking pretty good...my only constructive criticism would b to reduce some thickness off of the depth of your stiff tips. How narrow are your tips width wise?
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Thanks Blackhawk. Yeah, I think they are still sort of meaty. They are about 3/8" thick. I will post a close up of the tips later. There are some drying cracks that run longways on one of the tips and I am a little scared to mess with them.... They haven't been a problem so far, but they did sort of give me the creeps. This bow was the one your Mighty Mouse inspired me to try.
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You mean 3/8 wide right? If so and with the cracks id take some off the thickness. I usually make the thickness of my levers around .080" thicker than the thinnest part of the working limb(and i have gone less in case you got big #$%!)which is always right before the levers. And then i taper thickness my levers down slightly to the tips.
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Looking really good,looks like you have about got it.Nice work. :) :)
Pappy
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Oh, how I wanna shoot that bow! Then I wanna copy that bow. well done!
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Yeah, they are 3/8ths wide. I took a couple of pics of belly and back of the tip that I was talking about. I do agree with you that they are a little thick. I have some finishing up to do on it over the next few days. It shoots pretty sweet and seems to be pretty fast. Taking a little weight off the tips can't help but make it a little better though. I think they are definitely a little too thick nearer the fades. The cracks are super glued and have been no trouble. Thanks for the tip Blackhawk.
Thanks Pappy and JW. I shot about fifty arrows through it this afternoon and checked the reflex on it about two hours after unstringing and I am liking this little bow!
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Finished! I built up the handle with some pieces of heavy tooling leather and loctite 420 super glue. I cut a small bump of leather and cut it roughly to shape and glued it on for an arrow rest. I used my rasp to rough out the shape and did a little shaping with the sander and 60 grit paper. I glued a couple of pieces of dark brown suede leather for an arrow pass and then put a piece of lighter brown deerskin that I had smoked and tanned a couple of years ago. I am liking this little bow. It shoots fine and came in at zero string follow - tillered out to 50lbs. @ 29". Thank you all so much for following along and for the great advice. :)
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I like it,nice job. :) :)
Pappy
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Congrats on crossing the finish line...now go shoot the snot out of it :)
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Thanks alot Pappy and Blackhawk. I appreciate y'alls advice. Now on to the next one! :D
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Just read this thread from start to finish. Nice work!
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thanks bob. Osage is definitely more work than the whitewoods I have used before, but it is awesome bow wood. I appreciate the kind words.
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Good job, Howard. A bendy handle Molle...my favorite!!
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Thanks Kenny. I like the bendy molle thing too! It shoots sweet and I think if I were forced to build a bow in a primitive setting, with a bare minimum of tools, the mollegabet would probably be my choice. I have built two other bendy handled molle style bows - one red oak, stretched out to 69" and a hickory about 65" ntn and both have turned out to be very durable, good shooting bows. It's a cool design.