preparing to rawhide back 55 inch osage

[bradsmith2010]

   I have this bow tillered to 25 inches, and my goal is 27 inches for this 55 inch osage bow,,
the handle is just slightly stiff so I have a bit more working wood than a totally stiff handle bow so I think I can get the 27 inches of draw,, also the limbs are a bit wide to help with the longer draw,,
it shoots very well at the 25 inches of draw,( has taken very little set from lots of shooting) my form is a little more consistent these days with the slightly longer draw,, shooting bows from 20 to 27 inches of draw keeps me a bit confused
   the rawhide backing is from a deer I shot last year,, and is very special cause he ended a way to long dry spell,, and am hoping he will add some nice medicine to the bow as well,, I had it in the freezer for months,, just took it out and salted it to dry( not sure if the salt is necessary if you are taking off the hair anyway)  it took a few days,, now I sanded and scraped a bit more to clean it up,, I will wash it with soap to degrease it,, and degrease the back of the bow as well,,
   One thing good about the raw hide, if you wash it in water and don't have time to put it on, it will stay fine in the fridge ,, or even freezer till you are ready,,
    this stave of osage is so nice, I am very excited to see how it turns out,, I will post pics as I go hope it won't take to long,, 

[Aaron H]

That rawhide looks pretty thick

[bradsmith2010]

it still has the hair on it,, I cut it shorter with my dog clippers,, and will shave the rest when it is wet,, but it is really pretty thin,, like most deer hide,, when it dries on the bow, it shrinks to very thin and sometimes transparent, it is my favorite rawhide backing,, it has very little or no adverse effect on the performance of the bow but makes me feel more confident to draw the bow the max, or what I feel is the max for that bow,,

[Pat B]

She's gonna be a nice bow, Brad. Reminds me of a Jay Massey style bow. 

[Badly Bent]

I like the back profile on that bow and the way the grain feathers on the belly as well. I'll be watching to see how you finish it all up Brad, looks like a good one.

[Stick Bender]

Looks sweet Brad Im watching too !!

[bradsmith2010]

got the deer hide on just now,
it was so thin it felt more like a snake skin,, so I have not wrapped it,, I think I will be able to just let it dry as is,,
I am watching it,, and if it seems to want to lift ,, I will wrap with ace bandage,, or string,,
I shaved the hair off with a razor before applying ,,, it still has a bit on there,, I can sand it off, or possibly leave it,,I will just see how it looks when it dries,,
  this bow was made I will call "old school"  I just made the bow the way it came out of the stave ,, no heat treating or bending,, the handle is a bit off center, but when strung lines up pretty good,,
   I started to second guess myself,,and considered heat treating some reflex before applying the skin,,,I  consulted an expert on heat treating, and he suggested ,, just to leave it since  string follow was minimum ,,, my dry climate and long draw for the bow might be pushing it to try heat treating at that point,,  good advice is seldom taken,, but I decided to take the advice given and leave it as is,,,
    it should be dry enough in a week to string and do final tweaking on tiller,,and I will post full draw pics at that time,,, thanks for looking ,,, B

[mulberry]

I love your bows Brad! Special bow too boot!
ps
I haven't forgot your hickory, I'm just coming out of hibernation!

[DC]

You could leave a little 5 o'clock shadow. Make it look manly

[Stoner]

I use to stretch my hides on a frame made of 2x4s (wish I took a pic) with notches cut in the ends. Drilled holes along sides, top & bottom for rubber bungee cord hooks. Attach the hide and when dry I would scrape the hair & epidermis off. Roll it up in a tube, it keeps for years. No fridge required. John