Author Topic: Osage Stave Question (Read 5781 times)

ricktrojanowski · « **on:** July 30, 2007, 10:35:32 pm »

A friend gave me a free less than ideal osage stave. The growth rings are really tight, less than 1/8 inch and it is pretty short about 60 inches. Is it possible to sinew back it and make a 50-55# @ 27" bow with this or would I just be wasting my time. If so any suggestions other than firewood? Thanks for any help
Rick

Hillbilly · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2007, 11:10:58 pm »

You underestimate the mystical powers of osage. 60" is plenty long enough for that drawlength/weight, and I've seen scads of good 'sage bows with skinny rings. 1/8" is actually a fairly thick ring for osage from our neck of the woods. What does the early/latewood ratio look like? That makes more difference than thae thickness of the rings. Can you post a pic?

Mickey · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2007, 11:38:27 pm »

That's the perfect piece of wood for a sinew backed osage d bow IMO

Pappy · « **Reply #3 on:** July 31, 2007, 05:47:31 am »

Yes or yes to either question,like Hillbilly said the early /late ratio is more important than the
thickness of the ring.I like them thin.It will do 55@27 either way you want to do it.

Pappy

ricktrojanowski · « **Reply #4 on:** July 31, 2007, 06:33:39 am »

I'll see if i can get my wife to post a pic after work today. As far as the ratio of early/latewood what should I be looking for?

Hillbilly · « **Reply #5 on:** July 31, 2007, 08:34:04 am »

If you look at the rings on the end, each ring is composed of a band of dark colored wood which is hard and dense-the good stuff-(latewood) and a band of lighter colored spongy weak stuff (earlywood). So what you want is for the dark rings to be thicker than the light colored ones.

Pappy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 31, 2007, 09:31:18 am »

The thinner the better on the light wood.

Pappy

Pat B · « **Reply #7 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:36:41 pm »

Most of my osage bows these days are 60" t/t(for 26" draw; but I tiller them out to 28"). Some have good rings and ratios and others are not so good. I make most of my bows about 55#@26"(on my bow scale

). If you are worried about your ability or the staves ability, you could back it with sinew, linen, silk or brown paper bag. Only the sinew will increase performance but the other backings will help hold it together. Pat

1/2primitive · « **Reply #8 on:** July 31, 2007, 08:59:07 pm »

IMO, you should be fine without sinew backing it for that draw weight and draw length. I would make the handle area pretty small though, to give yourself more working limb.
Just as an example, I made a quick Red Oak bow, 60" long, small stiff handle (The entire handle is 6" long including the fades) and it draws just fine out to 27". I know if I perfected the tiller, I could get 28" safely. If you want to sinew back it, though, go right ahead.
Sean

ricktrojanowski · « **Reply #9 on:** July 31, 2007, 10:02:48 pm »

Here's the pics of the stave. Hope this helps. Any further advise would be appreciated. Thanks for all your help so far.

[attachment deleted by admin]

jkekoni · « **Reply #10 on:** August 01, 2007, 06:00:43 am »

Just wanted to note that the physical size of US coins is not a familiar thing to everyone.

Pappy · « **Reply #11 on:** August 01, 2007, 06:10:43 am »

Them rings look pretty good,especially a little deeper in.It is hard to put a number on it
but you want the difference between the light ring and dark ring as much as possible
with the dark being the thicker.

Pappy

Primitive Archer