Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jimmy on April 23, 2015, 11:58:42 pm

Title: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: jimmy on April 23, 2015, 11:58:42 pm
The specs on this are 60" ttt, 53# @ 27", 1 1/14" wide limbs, last 8" tapering to 1/4" wide "modified" pin knocks.  It is straight when unstrung.  I did not wrap the handle for now, so as to show the pretty grain and color of the wood.  The growth ring on the back is about 1/64" thick.  The bow was made from a really thin ringed reddish osage stave.  It has 13 pin knots and 3 larger branch type knots.  The pin knots are actually clusters of 2 or 3.  The grain and color in this wood is exceptional.  I did not know if I could or should make such a thin ringed bow, but here it is.  It is holding up just fine and shoots great.  My nerves, however, are pretty much shot after chasing that ring, especially with all the knots ( torture ).  This bow was a lesson in patience for me.  Thanks for looking.  I'll post more pics.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: jimmy on April 24, 2015, 12:00:21 am
More pics.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: jimmy on April 24, 2015, 12:02:16 am
A few more pics.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Knoll on April 24, 2015, 07:28:41 am
Good looking stick.  And nice bends.  Congrats!
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Sidewinder on April 24, 2015, 07:31:11 am
Man Jimmy that looks great. It just goes to show you what taking your time can do. Bravo on a tough one. I guess since you cant make the classic we'll have to figure out how to hook up and get me that bow so I can take it with me and show it off for you. Excellent job once again.  Danny
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Aaron H on April 24, 2015, 08:13:51 am
That is a very beautiful bow.  Great color, great bend.  Will executed all the way around
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Aaron H on April 24, 2015, 08:15:51 am
That unbraced side profile speaks volumes
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: MWirwicki on April 24, 2015, 09:08:49 am
Nicely done, Falcon.  Nicely done.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: PAHunter on April 24, 2015, 09:14:07 am
 Simple and very sweet!  Everything looks great, well done!
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Aaron H on April 24, 2015, 09:17:25 am
Nicely done, Falcon.  Nicely done.

I can't take credit for that, I would like to though.... ;)
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: burchett.donald on April 24, 2015, 09:18:36 am
 Gorgeous piece of sage Jimmy... 8)  I think you done it justice...Love the character and the simple design...I love the straight profile...Did you use any heat in your build?
                                                                                                                                       Don
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: sieddy on April 24, 2015, 09:18:47 am
Man that is a great looking bow! Thanks for sharing  :)
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: jimmy on April 24, 2015, 09:49:02 am
Thanks alot everyone.  I did use heat to correct the limbs because the string was laying off to the right hand side of the handle.  I didn't want to try and induce any reflex because the growth ring is so freakin' thin, and I didn't want any more stress than neccessary.  I'm terrible at taking pictures and they really don't do the wood justice.  This bow is simple and was really all about the wood (the color, the grain, the knots, the rings).  Unfortunately, it's hard to capture that in a few pics.  That reddish/amber osage is so pretty in person, so different from the usual yellow stuff.  At least I know now what is possible with thin growth rings, but I'm not kidding myself, I won't be abusing or overstressing this bow.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Parnell on April 24, 2015, 09:53:30 am
Heck yeah.  That's the business. 8)
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Sockrablur on April 24, 2015, 09:57:44 am
Wow that's a beauty Jimmy. I don't think I could bring myself to put anything on that handle either, to pretty! Well done sir.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: burnt on April 24, 2015, 10:17:08 am
Good looking bow.  I really like the way you worked those knots.  I get really excited if I find a piece of osage with that red color in it.  Seems to be an indicater of superior wood.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: rps3 on April 24, 2015, 10:30:05 am
Every piece of sage i have worked with that color pattern has turned out great. Looks like yours is no exception. Good job.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: TimBo on April 24, 2015, 10:54:24 am
Great job on some beautiful osage!  It looks like it would be fun to shoot. 
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: alwayslookin on April 24, 2015, 11:13:15 am
That thing is sweet and simple I really like the grain on it well done
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Cloudfeather on April 24, 2015, 11:53:40 am
Nice character on that piece. I've gone from loathing knots in staves to absolutely loving the look and challenge of chasing around them.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Pat B on April 24, 2015, 12:13:02 pm
Nice work on that tricky stave.  8)
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: bradsmith2010 on April 24, 2015, 12:22:41 pm
beautiful,, congrats :)
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Chief RID on April 24, 2015, 03:43:03 pm
Simply beautiful. Well done sir.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Josh B on April 24, 2015, 05:22:21 pm
I'm diggin it Jimmy!  Nicely done Sir!  Josh
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: okie64 on April 24, 2015, 05:32:27 pm
Beautiful piece of bodark!! I love the dark colored stuff.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Del the cat on April 24, 2015, 05:38:25 pm
Cool bow, great character :)
Del
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: hunterbob on April 24, 2015, 07:27:39 pm
I love the looks of knots in a bow. Good job on that one
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Hamish on April 24, 2015, 09:13:28 pm
Nice job, low set, lovely tiller.
I hope you will be lucky with the thin rings in the long term. My personal experience in one of my early bows of osage that had thin rings, like pages in a paperback novel, was that a couple popped during shooting. I heard the sound and checked the bow, easily fixed with a rawhide patch on the back. Its tiller was pretty average, and the "pop" happened at a tool mark that hadn't been sanded off properly.
A fellow shooter at an archery tournament had the same thing happen to him, his bow was about 2 years old, nicely tillered and was thin ringed.
Another guy I know had a thin ringed stave, with especially spongy early wood barely got pass brace height before it broke.
Despite having thin rings many osage bows don't develop problems, thin earlywood, wider design limbs tend to fare best.

My preference with thin ringed staves is to back with rawhide from the get go just for precaution.

So if the unfortunate does happen, stop shootin,g back with rawhide either the effected spot, or better yet the whole back.
  Hamish
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: JonW on April 26, 2015, 10:56:35 pm
Very nice Jimmy I knew you would pull it off. The color of that piece of wood is killer.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: George Tsoukalas on April 27, 2015, 09:06:44 am
That is an awesome tiller! Very nicely done! Jawge
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: jimmy on April 27, 2015, 09:45:23 am
Thanks for looking and for the compliments everyone. 
Hammish, you're probably right about the typical fate of thin ringed bows.  Some of it might have to do with the individual piece of wood and how strong it is.  Some of it might have to do with the tiller and the way the back has been worked.  I took every precaution I could, but I know it's pushing the safety limits, so needless to say this will not be my go-to shooter.  On the other hand, my confidence went way up on working with more reasonable thin ringed staves in the future (1/16"-1/32" for example). 
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Badly Bent on April 27, 2015, 07:31:50 pm
Killer work on that bow Jimmy. Your right the coloring in that osage is striking as is the bow itself, real nice job getting such a nice bow out of that. Also gotta say I like that rustic cabin in the background of the pic., if thats where you work on bows I'm envious. :)
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Sidewinder on April 28, 2015, 07:30:41 am
That little cabin is his bowshed and he lives smack dab in the a city neighborhood. He has a little oasis there in his backyard compound.  :) Jimmy is an exceptional man with many talents. Im glad he is posting some of his work. He has much to offer.
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: Hamish on April 28, 2015, 11:07:52 pm
Hey Jimmy, You did a stellar job on this one. I didn't mean to sound like I was raining on your parade. Just wanted you to be aware what you could do if things happened in the future. Like you said a lot comes down to the individual stave. The tiller looks really good and so does the broad craftsmanship.
                                                       Hamish
Title: Re: Thin ringed, knotty osage bow
Post by: jesswprater on April 29, 2015, 10:35:06 am
That is a great looking bow! Good to learn from Hamish about treatment of thin ringed wood. I have a couple of staves like that. Where do you get thin rawhide?? I looked at that poundage and the limb width and thought "How the hell did he do that?". Then, I noticed the bow length and think I solved my problem with another bow. Many thanks!