Snaky Osage

[Muskyman]

Top/back of bow

[Muskyman]

Outside edge

[Pat B]

Without having the stave in front of me it's hard to say but if you can clear the knot completely then I would go around it. It's a judgement call.

[Muskyman]

By go around do you mean take it out? If I narrow the limbs I might be able to get rid of it, maybe. Limbs are 1 1/2 inches the way they are drawn on the stave and it was a limb not the trunk of the tree.  If you look you can see the pith in the stave. I think I’ll thin the thickness down then try to make a call on what to do. I’m hoping if I do that I’ll get a better idea of what to do.

Thanks for your help and thoughts Pat. I’ll post when I get thinned down and maybe take a few more pictures. Probably end up firewood but I’m going to see what happens. Not going to try to make it to heavy, hopefully that’ll help.

[Pat B]

Thin the limbs down and see how the knot looks. You could leave the knot and that area of the limb would be a little stiff.

[bentstick54]

Pats advice is good as usual. What part of the limb is the knot located? That can also make a difference.

[Muskyman]

Took my stave down to about 3/4 to a inch in thickness an ended up with this.
I couldn’t take the thought of something like that so I’m looking at it and decided that it had to go. Said if I end up with firewood so be it.
I took pictures as I took it off and of the end result.

[Muskyman]

As I got started

[Muskyman]

A little farther along

[Muskyman]

End result is right where the pencil mark is

[Muskyman]

This is a picture from the top/back of bow. I was a little concerned about how it was going to end up but, really glad I did it after seeing the result. I guess it’s part of learning. This bow has a long way to go yet. It’s got twists and humps in the limbs etc,etc. and with me driving this ship it still may end up in the firewood pile. But I get through the first hurdle.
Thanks for your help and thoughts on this one. I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I go along.
Next I’m thinking get the limbs down to about 1/2 inch and then try and take out some twist.
Or am I thinking wrong?

[lenador]

I'm secretly watching your build to make sure I don't screw mine up 😂

[Muskyman]

Don’t know if that’s the best idea for you to be honest. You’ve probably built more bows then I have. And it’s my first try at a snaky bow. You’re welcome to follow along and get what info you can from the people on here who have some real knowledge. I myself am pretty much in the dark here. The people on here are great though and have a lot of experience and are willing to share it.
Just don’t want you to get the idea that I actually know what I’m doing.
I’m pretty much like you. I’m on here asking questions hoping I don’t screw mine up.

[Pat B]

Well done so far. If that last pic is the back of the bow you need to get it down to one clean ring before you go any further.

[Muskyman]

I’ve got it down to about 1/2 inch now. It’s just starting to bend a little bit. Tried to fix a spot in it with heat but didn’t really get what I wanted done so I took down a bit. It was about 3/4 when I tried to bend it. It’s so wonky that it’s hard to figure out how to clamp it up and get what I’m trying to do done.
Here’s a couple pictures of it now