Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Eric Garza on August 12, 2023, 08:00:02 pm

Title: Good osage belly cores
Post by: Eric Garza on August 12, 2023, 08:00:02 pm

Where do people get nice osage belly cores these days? I plan to make a hickory-backed osage laminated bow.

Title: Re: Good osage belly cores
Post by: Selfbowman on August 16, 2023, 01:23:09 pm

May be the hard silly way but I make a selfbow blank and apply boo to the back.

Title: Re: Good osage belly cores
Post by: Eric Krewson on August 17, 2023, 07:58:16 am

Yep, every backed bow I ever made started out as a stave I flattened the back on.

Title: Re: Good osage belly cores
Post by: superdav95 on August 17, 2023, 09:23:46 am

Ya this is how I’ve been doing it lately too.  It allows you to take a decent piece of wood/stave with a questionable back and make it better.  Because I have no shortage of staves at the moment this is my attitude.  I guess if I was hurting for staves I might think differently. 

Title: Re: Good osage belly cores
Post by: willie on August 17, 2023, 12:35:04 pm

I have been thinking just the opposite. the belly is where bows have to work the hardest.
Find the primo stuff for the belly and apply.  Dunno where to source the osage slats tho, but I like the idea of quarter sawn

Title: Re: Good osage belly cores
Post by: PEARL DRUMS on August 17, 2023, 12:57:37 pm

Mike Yancy can set you up. Call him, don't trust the website to be accurate.

Title: Re: Good osage belly cores
Post by: Eric Krewson on August 18, 2023, 08:24:48 am

I save my premo stuff for selfbows and often used my substandard stuff for bamboo backed bows, I have made over 50 of these and never had the belly wood fail. The bamboo  and a good glue choice (urac or unibond) keeps them together, runout or grain twist doesn't matter.

Here is an example.