Jesse, I've always wanted to use Osage as a backing, and like any good self bow wood its strong in both tension and compression which allows this style of bow to work.This bow is like a straight self longbow split down the middle and re-glued in a r/d limb profile. Of course being clean , straight-grained is necessary, and getting these edge-grained slats from Timo made it possible.
"Backed" may not be proper terminology, but I have a hard time with "laminate" in this case..Sounds to compromising or "modern"
Thanks Marc, I've seen your longbows and I hope you try one of these. Cost, ease of construction, and performance may be obvious, but the real reason it's different enough to Keep it interesting.
Thanks Zen, This bow taught me a bundle and I plan on many more..
Rich