I have read that Osage and Mulberry have a couple of other cousins, and I am wondering if either of them are a good to excellent bow wood? Anybody here tried either one???
I had an interesting experience while at a Bow making event that was sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation last month. Part of the event was open to the public to come and observe and several families came by a watched what we were doing. One young family showed a significant degree of curiosity about the Osage staves I was working on. I think he was mostly curious about the color of the wood. He asked me what type of wood it was. I could tell by his accent and appearance that he and his family were from East Asia. I told him it was Osage Orange and told him a bit about the nature of the wood. Then I asked him if he was familiar with Breadfruit or Jackfruit, which are cousins of Osage Orange. He smiled very broadly and told me that he was from Sri Lanka, and that he was quite familiar with both. He told me that in Sri Lanka, the wood from Breadfruit trees is coveted for building very high quality and very durable furniture and that it is also yellow like the Osage I was working with. He took about a dozen pictures of the Osage wood and sent them via text message to his cousin in Sri Lanka that works as a furniture merchant.
I grew up with both types of those trees all around me, ...but alas I knew nothing about bowering at that time.
OneBow
