Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Nashoba on May 11, 2018, 12:28:46 am
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I’ve started shaving down an Osage limb that I split about a year ago. I am treading on strange territory with this stuff. I mostly make hickory sapling bows, chasing rings and wearing blades down on yellow wood is not my expertise. I’ve got most of the sapwood off of the back, and now I am starting to look at reducing the limbs down.
The stave is roughly 55” long, and has a pretty extreme reflex to it. The archer it is intended for is pretty compact, and she has a shortish draw length. Hoping to get around 40lbs with the draw weight. Am I just wasting my time with this one though? In my head it is looking pretty good, but I am worried that I will overstress and break it. Anyone experienced with Osage have any opinions on the design and working it down?
Also, in the third picture is a spot on one end where the grain tore out during splitting. I think it may have gone down one ring below the one that I am trying to work with. Can Osage handle a violation like that or do I need to dig down another ring?
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Osage won't handle any violations. You have plenty of wood to work with. I would chase it down to a good ring then put the bow into a cawl and use some heat to balance out your profile. That big crook you have would be more workable if it was centered. Good luck on it.
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Need to get the back down to one ring. The structure of Osage (ring pourous?) doesn’t like violations.
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What Badger said. You'll be amazed at what some heat will do to Osage. ;)
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If I were doing it I would put that crook in the middle of the handle and reflex the limbs back in a cawl with some medium sized hooks on the end. Might make a good flight bow. How long would the bow be if you centered it, you could leave the top limb 2" longer and make it asymmetrical.
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+1. I spend hours getting a stave to look like that. You got it handed to you.