Osage Billets???

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Hey all in PA land-
    I ended up with some shorter staves that I got which would not work for a bow length of 68-66 inches. I was wondering if there was a method to maybe turn these shorter staves into billets and then us a 2/3 cut and glue them together. Do I need to get the growth rings about the same size. What is the criteria to mate two billets together. Any in site would be appreciated.... THANKS GUYS!!!

[DEllis]

Not sure I fully understand your question, but in theory you could splice a yew longbow limb to an osage flatbow and it would work. It'd be better to use two pieces that are close to the same in ring count just so it doesn't look goofy and unbalanced.
If they are long enough for staves of say 54 inch or better, you might consider trading for longer staves.......it'd be a shame to cut a foot off of a short stave to make one billet. But thats only my humble opinion.
Darcy

[wildkatt]

Got any in 53/54 in'' range i would b interested



Katt

[gstoneberg]

I have spliced billets together that had much different ring thicknesses from completely different osage trees and it worked fine.  However, the resulting bow limbs were slightly different thicknesses.  As long as the tiller is the same on each limb, it doesn' t matter.  You may be able to trade a stave longer than 52" to somebody for a pair of billets.  But, to answer your question...yes, you can lay out a 4" Z-splice on each end of your staves, glue them together, then cut the excess off.  Put the splice in the handle.

George

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Hey Katt-
Actually I do have a 53 inch osage stave which is in amazing condition...very straight and little twist. If you want I could let it go super cheap or if you have somthing for trade maybe that could work. For cash I mean super cheap like 30 bucks plus the actual cost of shipping. I will see if I can figure out how to send a picture of it. Just let me know

[wildkatt]

k send me a pm ill give u phone # so u can call



Katt