Dead standing Osage 55# at 28”

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Here’s one I made for demonstration at the Central Missouri Renaissance Festival. It’s from a pretty charactered stave from a long since dead Osage tree that had the sapwood rotted off. I did not touch the stave with any heat for corrections or tempering.

 There is 90* of propeller twist from one end to the other, to compensate I cut single side nicks on the high side. Several large longitudinal crack. One big knot in the upper limb that just didn’t make a clear through hole after cleaning out the soft stuff. There are also several small bug holes that are only about 1/16” across. The handle got too thin to crest a full sized stiff handle so I left as much as I could and used my gooseneck scraper to just clean out the splintery bits and leave little dished out grooves. The finish is just boiled linseed oil. At the time of the pictures it has 1 coat and each coat since has made the colors appear deeper. The woods color is natural and fresh cut. I didn’t measure but set is no more than one inch with one limb having 4” reflex and the other 2” deflex in the end. I almost forgot about the mild S-shape to the front profile.

It was an interesting piece to work. Especially stopping frequently to talk, answer questions, and show people what I was doing and why.

That is for looking.

Kyle

[Mo_coon-catcher]

A few more

[Mo_coon-catcher]

And last few

[Bob Barnes]

You have talent Kyle... Great job on a gnarly piece of wood.  I'm looking forward to a picture of the deer that you get with it this year.   

[bassman211]

Well done with that piece of wood.

[Muskyman]

Love the color, and the tiller. How does it shoot? It’s crazy what you can make a bow with. Awesome job.

[superdav95]

That’s an accomplishment for sure.  What a bow.  I love the Color on that too what did you use for stain?   

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thanks guys!

It doesn’t shoot bad. It does have a bit of handshock but nothing unpleasant, just noticeable. It seems pretty quick though. Not a speed demon but it’ll hold its own in the woods. Tmwithout chronographing yet, I would say it’s solidly in the 160 fps area.

There’s no stain at all, just a couple coats of linseed oil so far. This is the natural color of the wood. I think the tree has just been dead for so long that the wood color has already darkened all the way through.

Kyle

[superdav95]

Huh. Way cool. 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Excellent tiller work, Kyle. You know you've "arrived" when you can tiller anything.

[Dances with squirrels]

Nice work on that knarly thing.

My first selfbow was from a long standing dead osage. It was the hardest wood I've seen to this day. Mine was dark all the way through too. I remember thinking if this is what making selfbows is like, forget it! Luckily, they aren't all petrified like that.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thank you guys. I decided to chronograph it a couple minutes ago. And wow it’s faster than I thought.  530gr arrows at 175-176 fps

Like you said the wood definitely felt different than the bright yellow wood. Harder, more brittle, and a bit tougher to peel off big pieces.

Kyle

[superdav95]

Those are impressive numbers   Well done. 

[bjrogg]

Very interesting bow from a very different interesting stave. The colors of the wood are interesting too

Well done

Bjrogg

[Will B]

Very cool bow, Kyle. I love the color and character of that Osage!  So much of the Osage I cut, split, and make into selfbows here in PA has that propeller twist like your bow. You overcame a lot of challenges and made a really nice bow. Great job!