advice needed on knot

[Salsify]

So I may have gotten carried away reducing an osage stave just now, and my inexperienced eyes can’t decide if I left eneuogh wood around this knot.


First image shows the knot from the back, little more then a pin knot. However I removed more wood then I would like from the back and now the head of the knot is pointing out the side, with barely an 1/8th of an inch of wood around it. If you look closley at the back it looks like the grain runs off as well.


Here it is from the belly, where it swells up to a  large and rotten looking branch end(I’ll probably dig it out and plug it.) Will this knot be safe if I left it as is? The stave is 2” wide atm, so I have the room to cut it out entirely on the back, but would it swelling so much towards the belly cause grain runoffs on that side? Or should I stop overanalyzing it? =p

[dylanholderman]

How thick is the limb there?
It looks like the knot runs off the limb before it reaches the back so I would think you’re fine, but I don’t have it in my hand to really get a good idea.

[bradsmith2010]

what part of the limb is it in,, can you show the whole width of the limb there,, and the whole limb length wise,,

[Salsify]

Heres a shot of the whole limb, bottom of the photo is roughly the center of the stave, its the middle of the 3 knots. Limb is roughly 2” wide along the length.


And the back, my finger pointing out the area.


for clarity heres a shot if the side, the end of the knot is marked by a pencil line. It’s sticking out of the side right now but thats only due to the amount of wood I removed, it went all the way thru to the back

[TimBo]

Two inches is very wide for osage.  I would try to reduce past it, as long as that doesn't put you up against another knot.  (And if it does, you can make sure not to cut into it!)

[bradsmith2010]

its hard for me to tell without seeing the grain,,
but I have been thinking move your center line over and get rid of the knot,,I dont know how long the stave is ...or how much weight you want,or intended draw, so I am just guessing,,
be careful and follow the grain aroung the other knots you will be working around

[Pat B]

1 3/8" to 1 5/8" is plenty wide enough for a hunting weight, 62" or longer osage bow. It looks to me you can eliminate the knot, like Brad and Tim said and still have enough wood for a successful bow.