Update: Looking for help reviving Dad's old Osage Snake

[Pete Noto]

Hello All,

I'm new here...this is my first post.

Years ago I was a VERY inexperienced hobby bowyer, completed a handful of self bows and one glass laminate before life got too busy to keep it up.  A milestone anniversary of my father's passing just ticked by and it got me thinking about an old snakey osage bow of his I have.  I've decided I want to take a stab at bringing her back into service so I can take it afield in remembrance of him.

I plan to go very slowly and use my old tillering tree, once I figure out where the heck I put it, and a long string that I will progressively shorten with a bowyers knot if all goes well.  Yes I will be careful, yes I will wear eye protection, and yes she is going right back on static display at the first sign or sound of cracking.

The bow is in good physical shape having been stored for the past 30/40 years on a horizontal bow rack in a cool moderately humid environment with little temperature fluctuation and no direct exposure to sunlight.  One of the tips is damaged, and I remember my father telling me he shot it for years that way, but I am concerned about it. 

I've taken several pics of the bow and both the tips for comparison and have put them in an online folder.  I'd appreciate any advice on bringing an old bow back into service, as well as thoughts on if the damaged tip is still functional, and if not how I might go about repairing it. 

If you're interested please take a look here:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16W3GJBC8IMVLf_X1HmFBNbGhYa5e-JiE?usp=sharing

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Cheers,

Pete

[Del the cat]

The damaged tip looks fine, any wood between the actual string groove and the tip is irrelevant.
My advice would be to give it a good waxing, slip a string on it, one that will go on without flexing the bow then pull it to about half draw watching how it flexes. Repeat the gentle flexing until you are totally fed up with it! Then get it to a low brace and repeat.
Finally get it to a proper brace say 6" and pull it half draw, the shoot it from half draw about 20-30 times.
gradually bring it back to full draw by increasing the draw and shooting it a few dozen times.
Between each stage examine it carefully by eye and by feel.
Pay special attention to the back, any cuts, nicks or deep scratches could be fatal to the bow.
Be willing to have it explode... if you are not willing, then keep it as a "wall hanger".
Del

[Pete Noto]

Thanks, Del.  What type of wax do you suggest?

[sleek]

Del pretty much nailed what you need to do. I would add that you should take pics and post them each step of the way to have us all check them out and advise you as you go. None of us want to hear back from you about a failure we could have helped prevent.

[sleek]

By the way.... Do you know what its draw length and weight were? Do you have any of the arrows your dad shot with this bow, as they could lend a clue, either by arrow length, weight, and spine.

[Hamish]

Unless there is something already structurally wrong with the bow, osage is about the most bulletproof wood  out there when it comes to bringing it back into service. Just follow Del's advice on retraining it.

A really nice looking bow you have there, graceful shape to the limbs. Whoever made it knew what they were doing.

[Pete Noto]

Thanks for all the replies. 

I definitely will document the process as I go and will upload it here.  Hoping to have a chance to do it next week/weekend as I'm headed out this evening to take a cub scout pack camping in Big Sur for the weekend!

Unfortunately, I have no information on the bow's specs, nor any of the arrows that were paired with it. 

I'm still looking for a recommendation on what kind of wax to rub it down with? 

There is a second, non-osage bow I plan to do the same with.   I'll be following the same gameplan on that one as well.  I don't know the wood as it's belly is painted white and it looks to be backed with a thin laminate of some sort painted black.  It is a takedown utilizing a lug system and is quite sturdy in the limb, I'm thinking the poundage on that one will be north of 75#?  My dad was a BIG guy, I even have a 125#er of his I will never string!

Pics of the takedown bow can be seen here:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/184xO-FCt9urSrMnP4SGCLZVNJA8BGqnG?usp=sharing

If I can revive it, I will most likely sand it down and refinish it.

Thanks again for the help!

[sleek]

Ok, how long, wide, thick is it, then measure its weight in grams. We can reverse engineer this thing to find what it is.

[Pete Noto]

To be clear, this is the osage bow.

It comes in at dead on 700 grams and 65" string grove to string grove.

Okay...no laughing at my horrible little sketch but thought it was the best way to give you the bow's measurements.  All measurements are in inches.

The top sketch is looking down on the bow, measuring the widest spot on the lower and upper limbs, and the skinniest.   I found it interesting the widest spots were a perfect 13" apart.  The bottom sketch is from the side measuring thickness at the measure points from the top sketch.

[bentstick54]

I’ve never measured any of my Osage selfbows for limb thickness, but I would estimate them to be about 1/2” thick, 1-1/2” at widest point of fade straight tapering to 1/2” tips. 4” handle, 10”fade to fade, and they are all very close to 50#. Looking at your specs I would guess you will be well north of that.

[sleek]

I feel like based on that you are looking at between 65-70#@28" draw. I'm trying to find Steve's mass formula chart to ensure this makes sense in the mass range, and soon as I do I will let you know. After you get it braced at 6 inches of brace, draw it to 10 inches and give us the draw weight, the give it every inch to 15, and I can tell you exactly what it will be from there out.

[sleek]

I forgot to add, for the love of all that is Holy, dont sand it down. The patina Osage takes is prized in older bows, dont ruin that. Just put a finish over it.

[bownarra]

To answer your question any beeswax based furniture polish will be fine. Other finishes may not be compatible with what is already on there.
With those specs that bow is going to be 70# or maybe a bit more. More than 3/4 out of the fades, 1 1/2 wide and only 65inch long. Yep your Dad was a big guy You will need some sturdy shafts.
Sleek you could hazard a guess out to 28 but it ain't going to be exact

[Hamish]

The painted takedown, is most likely lemonwood, but it could possibly be osage as well. You won't know until you strip and clean the paint off.

It has a backing which could be fibre, or an early fibreglass. As long as its still glued on well its probably okay to retrain and shoot.

[Badger]

  My guess is about the same as the others, between 65 and 75# most likely maybe even more. As thick as it is I am thinking your Dad may have had a short draw. How tall was your father?