Osage Recurve

[Psycho]

Well it's been awhile but I have been looking at my projects. I went and got married again and also purchased a new home. I also retired. This project was started sometime last year. Some may recognize the genesis of this project (first pic). 65" tip to tip, handle is white oak and choke cherry, limbs are 2" wide tapering to 3/4" at present, Limbs 1/2" thick at present with 3/4" thickness at tips for about 8"(second pic). I next plan to steam bend the tips but I think I have to reduce the thickness a bit. I will welcome all advice and recommendations. Thanks.
            Psycho

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[USMC Sniper]

looks good but you might want that riser to blend in better, that one may pop off in its current state. more like this zebrawood riser on my r/d osage bow

other than that youve got a great start

[OldBow]

Married again, retired, buying home, and making bows. Good job! Sounds familiar

[Psycho]

Thanks Sniper. I too fear the possibility of the handle popping off. Saw that as a problem when I first took off the split form the stave. I will probably find out when I work more on the tiller. Nothing happened when I initially got to the floor tillering stage.  Can someone give me an idea about how thin I can go on the tips before I recurve them? I want a static recurve.
                                                       Psycho

[Pat B]

You can probably go 1/2" to 5/8" on the tips before bending. Do you have a heat gun. With dry heat you can stress the heat bent area a few hours after heating. I usually wait overnight. With steam bending I'd wait at least a few days to be sure all the steam induces moisture was gone.
   I've bent some pretty sharp curves using dry heat and oil coating. At 5/8" thick, even if a few splinters lift a little super glue and a rasp will take care of the problem. I always support the outside of the curves with a metal band as I'm bending.    Pat

ps. If you only have steam for heating, coat the area to be steamed with shellac to help prevent it from taking on moisture.

[BowMonk]

boil the tips...

no more than 5/8 thick...

like Pat says, use a band or metal strap clamped at the form and the limb, while bending so it will keep pressure on the belly side as not to raise splinters.

some people have success with heat guns... and i know how to use one... but, i recommend taking the sure safe route of boiling...  btw... steaming never seems to get them soft enough to keep from raising a splinter or tearing the wood internally when doing static tips.use no less than a 1" radius on your form to bend around, and i would recommend 1.5" if it is your first try at static tips.

one tip i suggest is to make sure that the area to be bent is flat, with no irregularity to the surface of the belly side... and also, make sure that the thickness is the same on both sides of the limb throughout the area that will be bent.  if you don't, it will resist more on one side and the tip will twist to the left or right when bending.

if by chance it does twist a little... and most times there is just a little... you can grease it with crisco and use a heat gun to heat the limb just below the static curve and twist it back into alignment.

sometimes i would keep with me cold water or even ice to put on it for a faster cooling after the adjustments are done, and it allows you to hold it in place by hand while icing it with the other. when it is cool to room temperature it will stay in place.

~Russell

[Badger]

2" wide sounds pretty excessive for osage, what weight are you going for. At 60# I would say 1 1/2 would be extremely conservative. Osage is such a heavy wood it just wont handle wide limbs very well, Steve

[George Tsoukalas]

Congratulations, Psycho! That's a lot of changes in your life. Thank God the are all good ones. Jawge

[Psycho]

Thanks fellas,

Pat, I have always liked your recurves and have several in my photo library to reflect on. I do have a heat gun but I dont want to mess with splinters too much. I'm thinking I will go down to 5/8 before bending then take off a little more doing finish work.  Thanks for reminding me about the metal strap along the belly while bending.

Thanks Bowmonk for the information on having a flat belly surface and it having to be equally thick across the bend area. A radius of 1 1/2" is certainly be enough for me. I have removed a twist from this piece before and will probably have to do it again. I think I will be cooking some osage.

Badger, thanks for the recommendation. I want to get as much weight as possible but I will be decreasing the width a little as I have noticed some curves in the grain that ran more curvy than I had previously noted and I also want to avoid splinters from this source.

Thanks again fellas.
                           Eliseo(Psycho)

[Psycho]

Well here I am again. I read a lot of posts and see too many nice bows. Most of the time I only have time to look and admire the bows. Teenagers always wanting to get online. I went ahead and bent some curves. Got impatient and hurried and therefore forgot the metal band. Some spl;inters came up but I think I have enough wood left to remove them while working on the nocks. Here are some pictures.


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[tom sawyer]

Pretty good bends, I've had that happen.  I wrapped the places with thread and glue and they worked fine.  If you don't get rid of them entirely, that is an option for ya.

[Psycho]

Finally did some work on the osage recurve and got it bending. Was able to take enough off the recuves to get rid of the splinters. Also Narrowed the entire bow a bit as Badger suggested. Would never had got it bent if I wouldn't have done that. Down to 1 3/4" wide on most off the working limb. Limited in narrowing further due to a knot hole. Handle has not popped off and hopefully it won't. Pretty near to final tiller. Bottom limb still a bit stiffer at outer limb. Here are some pics. Low brace and 20" at 55#.

Eliseo



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[Pat B]

Eliseo, She's looking real good. Have you had a chance to shoot her yet? I'll bet she will zing an arrow.   Pat

[Psycho]

Thanks Pat. No I have not shot it yet. I'm presently sanding down the edges in hopes of not raising any splinters when I go to full draw. Also plan to work the outer part of lower limb just a touch. Also have to make a string to get it at a brace height of about 6-7". I am looking forward to shooting it soon.

Eliseo

[Psycho]

Wow. Four months later and still needs a finish.  I think I'm done with the wood working. Got new string on it and a brace height that clears my fletchings. She sure shoots nice. Final weight is 60# at 26". (I finally remeasured my draw length). She is 63" from N to N around the bends. I still have to name her and decide on what finish I will apply. I hope to shoot her all summer and take her hunting in the fall if I draw a tag.



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