Reddish purple inner growth ring on osage stave

[bassman211]

From a dead Osage tree I have managed to get 3 nice bend through the  handle bows. The stave I am working on right now has a reddish purple inner growth ring that runs the length of one limb. That is a first for me, and some thing is telling me it could be a real problem. What is it,and can I still get a bow out ?

[Pat B]

No idea.Could be mineral deposits or some sort of fungi, I guess. Was this not in any other part of the tree? Any nails, horse shoes of other metal attached to or inside the tree?

[bassman211]

 I have made 3 successful bend through the handle bows so far with the tree, because of chasing back cracks out of bows backs  I ended up with very just enough  handle, and didn't want to get into glue on grips. They shoot nice. This is the only one with the reddish purple inner growth ring. New to me , and that is why I asked the question. I have it floor tillered, and ready to go on a form. I am going to go with it if for nothing else just to see what happens.( safety glasses ,and  an  atv helmet ) Thanks Pat.

[BowEd]

Congrats....Those are extra work.No cut off end piece to investigate the ring farther?

[bassman211]

Bow Ed, I have a cut off piece in the basement. I 'll take a look at it. The wood feels hard enough. It's not punky. A friend gave me the dead logs, so I wanted to make him a bow, and the handle is still thick enough for a cut shelf which he likes. He wants 45lb at 26 inch draw 62 long.. I just thought you guys had run into to this at some time with Osage, and could give me some advice. I have built a dozen, or so Osage self bows over the years,  and that many more that I sinew backed, but have never seen a reddish purple growth ring like this one. Thanks.

[Selfbowman]

Pics!!!! I ran across a Osage stave one time!!!!! That had a what appeared to be a rope like grain the length of the stave.  Laid the bow out along the rope like grain. It was about 3/16 in diameter. It was the 7th bow I built. Man I wish I had that stave back today. The bow had good cast and my tips . Well let’s say they where not lacking in mass. Unusual things like that in nature sometimes are like a outstanding athlete with born in abilities .interesting

[organic_archer]

Many of the Osage trees here grow with deep reddish brown streaks throughout some of the rings. Occasionally, an entire ring will be very red. In my experience, it makes really good bows. My favorite Osage bow on the rack is streaked with red and has a red ring in the handle.

Our walnut gets purple streaks as well. As far as I can tell, it’s just mineral deposits and doesn’t hurt a thing.

[bassman211]

Thanks for the info guys. Very helpful. I know now that if I do my job I can get a successful bow out of the stave. Should be finished in a couple of days.

[Eric Krewson]

Mineral streaks, I see it fairly often, no big deal.

I grabbed a couple of billets I thought were matched, after 20 years in the corner they had darkened to the same color and had the same ring count.

When I chased a ring on each of them I found them to be vastly different, one even had a mineral streak of red wood on the ring I chose for the back.

 

[bassman211]

Finished the bow ,and shot it yesterday. Good profile unbraced, and tillered for a low wrist shooter.Tiller turned out good.
 It is 60 inches ,42lbs, at 25 inch draw. Has 1.5 inches of reflex after tillering ,and shooting it some. Shooting an 8 strand D97 string. Haven't chronied yet, but it is snappy, and the reddish purple ring fit right in with no problems. Thank all you guys for your input.

[BowEd]

Cool....Is picture sending a problem?That dead hedge is always kind of unique.
I was into a discussion with some fellas about that dead hedge or hedge in general about these red and purple lines in hedge.It seems around here the dark lines show up in places where hedge is harvested from wetter bottom land.

[bassman211]

Hard for me to post pics Ed. The amount of even reflex you get in your bows is unbelievable. Great speed too. Not blowing smoke ,but you are one excellent bow maker. I had to re tiller the bow. It ended up I made the top limb to weak even with his low wrist grip. I over compensated. It is my bow now as he picked another bow that I made from the same tree. 64 inches long 45lb at 25 inches of draw. Braced 6 inches, and with a 450 Gr. arrow clocked 152 fps., so he is happy and so am I. The real funny thing about it all is that we clocked a Damon Howatt hi- speed glass recurve with the same arrow at 43 lbs., and came up with the same speed. That company is famous  for making snappy bows even when comparing them to other glass recurves, so i guess we did all right.

[BowEd]

Thanks but the main thing about these bows is how they shoot.No matter what the speed.I do have an obsession about maintaining reflex with the least amount of set as possible.It's a curse.
Same guys shooting the same bow can have different numbers.
Nothing more amazing is to go shooting targets with a sharp shooter.I'm not exactly there yet.....ha ha.
I hav'nt changed the type of handle I use.I know things would change/pressure points etc. that would affect the limbs.Making them for someone elses' different shooting grip/pressure point etc. would be an adjustment.
Most times I tiller mine to even tiller and adjust things after shooting it some.
My pressure points are on the handle are on the web mostly.
I believe I saw a dead snag or two of hedge by me here.I'll have to get after one,one of these days.
At least both parties are happy and that's the main thing like you said.

[bassman211]

I will get a total of 7 bows from those 2 dead logs. 3 will be sinew backed, and 4 self bows, so he will get a pick of one of the sinew bows also. He also cut me 2 nice hop hornbeam logs,and 2 nice blue beech logs, and a nice fresh  Osage log.   Didn't build many bows this winter, but I am on a roll right now. 

[BowEd]

Cool....Nice when things come together like that.
Keep on rollin.