starting an osage longbow

[youngbowyer]

Hi,

George from the forum is sending me osage billets and i want to make a longbow from them. However i know that osage is very dense and strong so i don't know what the dimension should be. I'm thinking of a bow that is around 68 to 70 inches long and i want a 55 to 60 pounds draw weight. Also since these are billets would a working handle bow work or would there be too much pressure on the splices.

Thanks, Tom.

[Pat B]

Tom, I've built a few osage ELBs in the 45# to 60# range, all from staves and not billets. With the spliced billets you want to maintain a rigid handle. Start at about 1 1/4" at the handle and out 4" either side of the 4" handle, then taper to 1/2" tips. With a rounded belly you have to take care not to get sideways bending. Good luck and post pics as you go along.

[youngbowyer]

Nevermind the billets. It will be kept as a single stave. i probably won't get the stave till  after thanksgiving but once i get started ill keep you guys posted

[Pat B]

With a stave you could definately do an "arc of the circle" tiller.