Nickf, thanks for the advice. I did make a board bow Sam Harper style. It didn't satisify me. At best, it's ugly.
And I did keep it on a long string too long during the tiller process and miscalculated the pull. The tiller is pretty good (could be improved some), but I ended up with a 30# @ 28" instead of the 45 I was hoping for. Lesson learned. So, I'm wanting a bow that I would like if it does turn out, instead of a bow that turns out fine but I don't like.
Do agree that less rare and cheaper wood is probably a better choise than using osage. As for the cheaper part, I have probably 30 osage trees on my farm. 95% of them are SNAKEY and better left till have alot more experience. I cut 2 osage log last Oct and cut this one yesterday, because it had uprooted. I also cut 9 BL logs from uprooted trees yesterday. We've let our grow up to better deer and quail habitat instead of being the pasture land that it was. I literally have 100's of ash and elm sapplings in the 2 to 4 inch diameter range. On my parents farm, I have virtually unlimited access to oak, hickory and beech. I'm not trying to brag or be a smart A**, but not counting time and a little chainsaw gas, it's cheaper for me to harvest these trees than it is to buy a board. And hopefully, I learn more by cutting and splitting myself than I would going to Lowes. I do expect to ruin 5 or more staves per one than I get right. That's why osage bow building will be further down the road. I just want to have them stored and curing for when I'm ready.
I just finished roughing out an ash sappling to set aside to cure. It's a knotty little guy and I'm sure I'm going to screw it up. But, it's all about the journey not the destination.
