Wamponog Sudbury Design ?

[Stick Bender]

I have decided on my first osage design,to make it  a Sudbury inspired design, I know the original was hickory, but have always love this design & wanted to try Osage, I want to make my design 68 ntn & sinew backed, do to thin rings , @29 1/4 draw,@#50  the original called for 1 7/8 aprox. At the widest limb but was wondering if I could get away at 1 1/2 with osage /sinew to keep mass down, appreciate any help or input from you guys with more exsperience than me ?

[half eye]

Bender,  I dont make sinew backed bows but understand from the members who do that a bow as long as yours plans to be wont benefit much from sinew. Also of all the osage bows I have made I have not noticed that ring count mattered very much if any.....these were self bows mind. Like I said, my experience is self bows so take my 2-cents worth with a grain of salt.
rich

[Pat B]

68" is way too long of a bow to benefit from a sinew backing. It will have a negative effect as far as performance goes. If you are looking for protection a rawhide, silk or linen backing will work. For a 29"+ draw I wouldn't go over 60" for a sinew backed bow and shorter would be better.
 If you have a clean back, osage doesn't need any other backing.

[PatM]

The sinew/ longer bow myth is just that. It's all about how you apply the sinew, depth of limb and reflex relative to draw length.
 Make the sinew work and limit it to the hardest working portion and it works just fine.
 Or you can just listen to regurgitated dogma.

[scp]

General rules do not need to be considered as dogmas. They are good starting points to start from and to be refined for each particular application of them. I don't work with sinew, but according to TBB4, it should be used more strategically for hunting or target bows, compared to war bows, just as PatM has said. IMHO 1.5 inch wide Osage working limbs would work fine for a 50# bow, even without sinew backing.

[Stick Bender]

Thanks for the imput guys thats what I like about PA you get both sides of the coin, great stuff,but wheather I back with raw hide or sinew or not at all I guess my question is 1 1/2 in osage limbs vs the 1 /78 design in hickory ,whats every bodys thoughts on that design change, having never worked osage & not sure about the strength diference, from my esperience hickory is tuff as nails but dont know osage other than its the king of bow woods ? The reason I want to back it the ring I have chosen is thin & as this is going to be a hunting bow im woried about draging it threw the woods un proteted.

[blackhawk]

Carefully chase a ring and make your bow...your width is fine. Dont worry about dragging an unbacked osage bow thru the bush..that stuffs harder than your head!!! I wouldnt sinew it either personally...rawhides fine at the most if you feel the need to,but a well chased ring is plenty good. Ive made plenty of unbacked osage bows with rings the size of 1/32 of an inch or less...no problemo

[PatM]

It may come down to your ring chasing ability as to the deciding factor.

[Stick Bender]

Thanks Pat I have been practicing on a not so good peace of osage ,been doing ok ,so ready to give it a go but have plenty of raw hide on stand by.

[bradsmith2010]

if you use rawhide, use thin like deer,, you wont loose any performance,, I agree the width is fine for osage,, I love sinew backed bows,, I usually work with shorter bows when adding enough sinew to hold reflex,, not saying a longer bow could not be designed to shoot well with sinew,, I use the long staves as self bows,,,and like to hunt with short bows,,, so have no need to make a long sinew bow

[BowEd]

Those longer bows backed by air are the smoothest things to shoot there is.Just made a 68"ntn. osage bow for a converted compounder.He's having fun yanking it to 31" or more.Surprisingly little set to it.I shot it a dozen times before giving it to him to shoot in and let him sand,finish,and put the handle wrap on.I'll show it when ever he gets back to me.Done some osage with 18 rings to the inch before too and really liked their stoutness.Actually I like thin ringed osage.I've dropped those hedge bows from the tree stand to get down lots of times.I would'nt worry.Hedge has a lot more compression strength than hickory and your width is fine.Made a bunch of hickory bows myself too.Just take your time chasing that ring like the fellas said and you'll be fine.

[bradsmith2010]

I thought alot about what PatM said,, I think he has a very valid point,,
I usually default to the make the bow twice the length of the draw for sinew,,and that works
I am working on a bow now that is a great example of a sinew bow that is longer than normal and shooting well
I am intending to extend the draw,, but as I am tillering it  the shorter draw it is demonstrating that a longer than twice the draw bow can shoot fine,,
the bow is 56 inches long
I am drawing it to 23 now,,, and one would think the bow should be 46 inches long to shoot well
this bow is 10 inches longer than that
it is pulling about 56#@ 23 inches and shooting 500 grain arrow in high 160's,, ok not amazing but shooting well enough to be a good hunting bow as is,, demonstrating PatM's point,,
I plan to tiller the bow to 25 and hope the ratio of arrow speed to draw will improve and think it will,, with the 56 inch length I could easily to to 28 if I need to,, anyway sometimes I just think to much,,