Longevity of osage bows

[BowEd]

blackhawk you're a creative goof......LOL.
Black locust was and still is second choice by farmers around me for long lasting fence posts.Actually sometimes more preferrable with it being straighter than osage.
I listened to an old fella having a pond made for himself.He as putting osage posts in like posts in the hard pan floor of pond for strucure for fish.Someone jokingly asked how long you figure those'll last?He said OOOOh thirty years then they'll turn into iron.Low oxygen and pressure down there I'm sure he's right.

[Joec123able]

The fact that you can take a 70 year old Osage fence post and still make a bow from it says a lot I'd like to see someone do that with any whitewood

[sleek]

The fence post part of Osage is a nice trick. Its due to its rot resistance. White woods dont have that trick up their sleeve. Regardless, I put Elm at the top of the list. It can handle back violations like Osage can only dream of, has interlocking grain like hickory without hickories moisture problem, and can make high stressed short bow designs very similar to Osage, and maybe even better in some instances.

[twisted hickory]

How about this thought. Since hickory is very hydroscopic, or whatever that word is. If a person was to shoot his hickory bow year round whenever they felt the desire with no regard to seasons or weather. Would it be detrimental to the bow during high humidity? Is it crushing cells each time its drawn while "wet"?

I spent most the summer shooting a hick bow that when it was dry this winter it pulled 55@ 27 in August if fell to 49@ 27 and felt spongy...So I made another to shoot I like to wear them out then I can build another. I will test said bow this winter and see if it goes back up to 55. I doubt it though.
Greg

So you're saying your bows wear out in less than a year ?

No saying it lost 6 lbs of draw weight. It still shoots fine with arrows spined for a 49lb bow. What I am waiting to see is if the draw wt goes back up when rh goes down.

[twisted hickory]

Because were human and not perfect osage is #1 ..let's face it no one "perfectly" cares for there bows no matter how hard they try.....no other wood can compare to taking all the abuses it can take and still shoot well and long lived..and the abuse list to bows is loooooooong....I've been around n making bows long enough now to see a higher percentage of my osage bows outlast " white" bows in my experiences...and I would think I know how to design and care for a bow(or maybe I'm wrong)...I think my second choice for all around durability and lasting a good while wood be black locust...

I like to sing this from time to time..its my rendition of the bowyers national anthem...

" O-sage can you see..by the bowyers bench...what so proudly we hail...as the king of all bow wood...and the yeller woods bending everywhere..while the white woods breaking everywhere..gave proof thru the night...that osage is still there....o say does that yeller wood banner yet wave...in the land of the free..and in the home of the bowyer" !!!!!

ROTFL

[Gus]

I listened to an old fella having a pond made for himself.He as putting osage posts in like posts in the hard pan floor of pond for strucure for fish.Someone jokingly asked how long you figure those'll last?He said OOOOh thirty years then they'll turn into iron.Low oxygen and pressure down there I'm sure he's right.

Hey Sir, where's this Pond located?
I still have a full set O Dive Gear and Waterproof CavNav's...
And I'll bring my Pirate Eye Patch...

 

-gus

[Fred Arnold]

I have no clue which is the best but I do know that this old Gilman Keasey Yew bow is the one I judge all other bows by. Every time I finish a bow and shoot it for awhile, I take down the Keasey and throw a dz or so arrows at the bale. And then I say to myself, okay Fred, you're still not there yet. I believe Gilman built the bow in 1961 and it was well used and well taken care of long before I happened upon it. So there's 50+ years that I know of.

[BowEd]

Gus...Yea I used to swim in mine.There are lots and lots of ponds around me here.Anywhere from 15 to 30 feet deep normally.Some deeper.They put walleyes in those.This guys was about 5 miles from me.There's hedge growing all along our fence lines over here.Hundreds of miles of it.Lots of times I get this red hedge.Kinda pretty but I don't see much diff in it from yellow hedge.If both are dryed and seasoned their good to go.The red just turns darker quicker with age.I like hedge just the way it is.No dying,backing,sinewing or anything.It can stand on it's own.

[JW_Halverson]

"Oooooold Hickory.......my homely Native bow!" *


*for all you maple leafers out there!

[okie64]

How about this thought. Since hickory is very hydroscopic, or whatever that word is. If a person was to shoot his hickory bow year round whenever they felt the desire with no regard to seasons or weather. Would it be detrimental to the bow during high humidity? Is it crushing cells each time its drawn while "wet"?

I spent most the summer shooting a hick bow that when it was dry this winter it pulled 55@ 27 in August if fell to 49@ 27 and felt spongy...So I made another to shoot I like to wear them out then I can build another. I will test said bow this winter and see if it goes back up to 55. I doubt it though.
Greg

So you're saying your bows wear out in less than a year ?

No saying it lost 6 lbs of draw weight. It still shoots fine with arrows spined for a 49lb bow. What I am waiting to see is if the draw wt goes back up when rh goes down.

Ive had the same experience with several hickory bows. They just dont hold up to the humidity here in Oklahoma. The last hickory bow I built lost 7 lbs in 7 months and felt like a noodle. It made me so mad I swore to never use hickory again, I probably will though. Maybe if I lived in the desert it would be my first choice but I dont so I'll stick with osage.

[H Rhodes]

Now I wish somebody would start a thread on the longevity of hickory bows!  Wonder how old  the oldest whitewood bow is that is still shooting good ?  I haven't been building bows long enough to have an informed opinion, but I have a couple of pecan and hickory bows that are a couple of years old that seem to be holding up fine.  That said, they haven't been torture tested and stay in the house with the central heat and air.  I string them up occasionally and shoot them for a bit and then they are right back indoors - no blizzards, hailstorms, or extended stays in the elements, but mine haven't lost any weight so far.  I am curious to know how long they can last with this type of use.   

[burchett.donald]

Twisted,
                You may be experiencing weight loss because of temperature and not moisture. My go to bow is a hickory that's 4yrs. old and well sealed, I live in South Carolina a very humid climate. In the summer around 90-100 degrees my bow will feel just slightly spongy after I'm outside and weighs 2 lbs. less than it does in the winter. On a cold day in December it feels 5 lbs. heavier but probably because I'm cold...LOL  What I'm trying to say is I can feel the difference because of temperature not humidity. My bow sleeps in an air conditioned home 99% of it's life and is well sealed. I think if your bow lost that much weight you would have visual set from moisture and probably not gain it all back. 
                 I will open one more can of wormies here and say my wooden shafts also lose spine in the heat...I never hear anything about temperature affecting our equipment but it does especially in direct sunlight which I stay away from when possible, I hate heat   Let us know what happens this winter and good luck to everyone this hunting season.