Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: DEllis on February 13, 2011, 01:32:34 am
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Got this in a trade with a fine gentleman from this forum. Figgured I'd show some progress reports so you guys who are osage guru's can correct my wrongs before I reach the point of no return ;D
Anyhoo, here's a pic of the stave. I drew a line down the middle following the grain.
Darcy
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Quite clean with only one pin very near the tip and a crack on one end that I can build around.
cleaned up one edge along the grain and laid out the profile.......decided to build it to the side to miss that check.
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OH NO!!! It's ruined! You totally ruined it!!! :o
Ok, 'nuff teasing. That's a great looking stave and the centerline looks promising. If you can cheat it off the check in the end you should be in like Flynn! If not, remember that Og and Umguk back in paleo times would have used superglue if they had it! Besides, as long as the crack doesn't run out the side of the bow, who cares? I have built a bow with a check right down the center of the upper tip. A nice and neat wrap of sinew and hideglue below the nocks locks it up right and tight.
Keep us posted on the progress!
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Cut out the profile. Will probably go somewhat narrower yet. Oh I suppose some explanation of the length and such might not hurt eh? ;D 65"tip to tip........Just a hair over 1.5 inches wide now. I want to do a slightly bendy handle. 70#@26 inches is what I am aiming for. A few progress pics. Chose the ring I want for the back and followed the early groth all the way around with a pencil so i don't get lost.
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OH NO!!! It's ruined! You totally ruined it!!! :o
That was quick! Oh well It'll burn OK I suppose eh? ;D
Chased the ring and thinned out the belly side a bit.......still too stiff to bend but it is time to gawk at it and try to picture what needs done next........tommorow I'll attack it some more >:D
A couple more pics.........you can see the few minor waves.........also a touch of twist but not enough to concern myself about.........I'll wait till it gets to brace before deciding if any steaming is nessesary to line stuff up.
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Very interesting build. Looking forward to following it.
I was under the impression that is was better to get to your ring before you profiled it? Does it make a difference?
Bevan
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Looking good Darcy. Presented like a seasoned pro. Looking forward to your build along and your progress.
Beautiful piece of osage BTW.
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Man what a fine job, you seem right at home with that osage.
Lowndes county Alabama osage in Canada only in the age of the internet.
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Very interesting build. Looking forward to following it.
I was under the impression that is was better to get to your ring before you profiled it? Does it make a difference?
Bevan
No Idea if it is better or not. But this way I had a LOT less area of ring to chase down. I was only going down one ring so not too much chance of unhappy surprises showing up. If I was starting with the bark and sapwood still on there I'd probably hog it down close to my chosen ring, but not into it, then profile and chase the ring. I am no expert though. ;D
Thanks for the reply.
Thanks Pat, first time using this yeller wood, but I've ruined a truckload of other wood in the past ;D
Darcy
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Man what a fine job, you seem right at home with that osage.
Lowndes county Alabama osage in Canada only in the age of the internet.
Thanks Jboyd..........It got snowed on a bit today while chasing the ring too ;D
Darcy
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I have had some rained on and it not hurt it, osage doesn't seem to soak up the moisture like
some other woods.
I know I usually take my osage down to just above my back ring and then profile it and
follow the back ring to cut down on the detailed work, but I have done them both ways.
I have come to learn that almost everybody usually does what works best for them.
Jamie Boyd
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Darcy, I always get the bow to profile before chasing a ring. You are right, it is much less area that needs chased. I wait to cut the depth until I get to the ring I want. Your bow is looking good so far.
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Thanks Osage Outlaw.
Some more progress today, slimmed it down some and got it bending a tiny bit. Decided the string was gonna lay off the handle a bit too much, plus it was torquing when I tried to floor tiller it so, time for some steam. 8)
Then while it cooled off I took my sons and went hunting rabbits........one of them(rabbits not sons) ran into my arrow at about 20 yards. This was with my vine maple sapling bow 62#@26 inches. I am standing on snowshoes.....the snow is up past my waist otherwise. ;D
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After I got back, took the stave out of the press.......not too bad now. But I didn't like how asymetrical the limbs were when I bent it a bit. So I took out the reflexed kink near the one tip and fixed the deflexed kink near the handle..........much better now, about 2 inches of reflex and pretty even. That's all for today........will start bending it properly tomorrow.
Darcy :)
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It's all falling into place! 8) Ain't osage cool bow wood?
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It's all falling into place! 8) Ain't osage cool bow wood?
I'm really liking it so far. Thanks Pat
Darcy :)
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Nice job on that stave. Looking really good. Jawge
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your patience is doing justice to that great looking stave, and congrats on that big 'ol bunny.
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Yup, it's ruined, that's for sure.
Good progress, should be shooting it's own bunnies soon. Great way to keep your hands off the bow as it cooled, chasing rabbits with the boys!
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Looking good!!! You'll never forget your first 'sage bow!!!
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Thanks guys. :)
Well, got her bending pretty good today. The pics tell the story better than words I think.
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Right limb needed to bend some more.
Did some rasping and scraping and got it to low brace.
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That last pic was after some more rasping and scraping.......coming along Ok. Upper limb is too the right Bending a tic too much and I wanted to shorten it up a bit and get the handle slimmed down to flex a bit more. I was hoping to get it to flatten down better at the handle instead of the shallow gull wing shape it had. Decided to shorten the upper tip and took the handle a bit slimmer. Hemmed and hawed and still was unhappy with the setback in the handle, so I steamed and bent the handle straight and rasped and scraped till things looked better. This was the result.
63" NTN. Drawing 67#@24 inches so far......need to slim the tips down and fine tune things things a bit as I work toward 26" I'll need to nudge the lower limb tip over a mite to get the string tracking better, but not too far to go now.
Any suggestions on the tiller? I think it is pretty close, but more experienced eyes may see something I don't. I need to get some paint or paper behind that tree to see the limbs more clearly against the wall :-\.
Tomorrow if all goes well should be time to replace the wrap on nocks with some real grooves. One other question for the osage guys. If I just do simple self nocks with this weight(I am aiming for 70#) will they hold up if they are quite slim say 7/16 wide and about that deep or a hair more before I cut the grooves? This stuff sure seems plenty hard and strong and I'd rather not add overlays if I don't have too.......... I like this wood a lot........just gonna need to let it see some sunlight to get rid of the Tonka truck yellow :o ;D
Darcy :)
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Dude you are all over it. Good for you, just keep it up. Yeah osage is really good bow wood to work with. Its very forgiving bow wood and trust me I have needed LOTS of forgiveness. I look forward to seeing your finish. danny
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Thanks Danny. :)
Darcy
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That's a damn impressive build-along and a beautiful looking bow in the making!! As has been said - ain't Osage a great wood to work with? So much draw weight out of such a slim bow...
Nice one!!
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What a great job, that has turned out great and I definitely love the bunnie shot!!
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Hey guys, thanks for the replies. :)
Did a bit more today. cleaned up the rasp marks and decided to shorten the lower limb a bit to balance the tiller out better. I like to have 1/8 to 1/4 inch more string to limb measurement on the upper limb compared to the lower. I have that now.......and it is bending pretty nice.
Cut the nocks and ended up 62"nock to nock.........tillered to 70#@24"so far but I am thinking it needs a few days of warmth to dry out a bit more before I finish tillering. It has taken a bit of string follow.......around 2 inches as soon as it is unstrung but bounces back to about an inch after a few minutes. I can live with 2 inches of follow but I get the feeling it could be a bit dryer still. I'll spend the next few days working on the cosmetics a bit plus some other stuff that needs done. Anybody have a good guess of how much string follow I should expect from osage at this weight and draw length?........max width is 1 3/8" midlimb is 1 1/4. It bends just a tiny bit in the handle. Here're a couple pics. One sorta blurry of the top tip. Will take better pics when all is finished.
Thanks,
Darcy :)
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Darcy, she looks good. You could take a bit off of the inner 1/3 of the right limb. If that is the botton, not too much. ;)
Very nicely done. When you are finished we expect a "hero" shot at full draw! 8)
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Thanks Pat, that is the top limb on the right. It has a bit of a reflexed spot right there that makes it look too flat. There is also a touch of propeller twist to complicate matters. I will be sure and post a full draw pic when I get'r done.
Darcy :)
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That's looking good,very nice job. :) Cool picture with the rabbit also. :)Nice shooting. :)
Pappy
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Looks very good! great build allong!
Josh
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Thanks guys. :)
Did some work to the handle and nothing else today. Trying to keep myself from taking it out to shoot yet......I will probably loose self control tomorrow though so it is hanging above the woodstove to dry for another night and then I bend it some more ;D
I think I may have to give my head a shake and keep things in perspective. This is 62"long 1 3/8 wide and pulls 70#@22" and after relaxing for a while has about 1 1/4 inch of set. Any other wood I would not even think of stressing it to that degree, yet with the sacred(after hearing osage praised for so long it takes on an almost mystical air) yeller wood I some how think it is supernaturally strong and should pull 100# with zero set @ 34" of draw and 53"ntn ;) ;D I suppose it is just wood too eh? Good wood, but wood nevertheless.
Anyway I am quite happy with it so.....
Here's what I got done today.
Glued on some leather back and belly of the handle to fill out the grip. I shaped it to point toward the string slightly as it still was tracking a bit offside. Glued on with contact cement and rubbed crazy glue into it to make it easier to file to shape.
Also prepped a handle wrap. skived the edge of the leather thin and folded the edge back to make a nice swell in the grip at top and bottom. You'll see this better in the finished pics in a few days(I hope).
Darcy :)
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Got it all finished up today. Turned out a bit over the weight I was aiming for but still under my self imposed limit of 80#(with my size and build I promised I'd not try anything heavier and risk injury). Here are the finished specs:
62" nock to nock
78#@26" draw
1 3/8" widest 1 1/4 midlimb. 7/16 wide tips
Mass of 22 1/2oz
relaxed set is 1 3/4"
shoots with very little shock and suprisingly quiet even though I havn't put string silencers on it yet. I really like osage orange ;D
I was thinking of the bows made by Art Young the whole time I was building this, and while it is more crooked and of lighter draw weight than he would have liked, I decided to name it with him in mind as well. So I dubbed it "King Arthur" ;DThe writing is burned into the belly with a wood burning tool. Grip is a neat scarred up piece of leather I had kicking around and the strike plate is the same. Finished with Montana Pitch Blend boot wax. Hope you all like it. :)
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And the obligitory full draw :)
Darcy
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Also one slightly blurry pic that show the degree of set.
Darcy
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You did an excellent job on that bow! Very very nice!
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Wow. Nice job on that one.
Tell
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Looks pretty sweet to me!!!
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I like it a lot. I've never tried to make one that heavy. Congratulations.
George
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That's a beautiful bow and great build along. I'm very impressed.
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Great job on that. Have you started planning your next one yet? lol Danny
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Very nice work! ;)
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Thanks for the kind words fellas. :)
Danny, do you really need to ask? I can't wait to work with osage again ;D........I love how little wood it takes to make a serious hunting bow.
I have been shooting this bow quite a bit and it is still a smidge heavy for me, but I think I'll build up to it fairly soon. I had been shooting 69# and it was pretty effortless but this is a bit of a jump from that........I will NOT go any higher but would like to master this weight.
Thanks again guys,
Darcy :)
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:o I must say thats a fine bow well done!
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Looks great all dolled up. Love the handle. :)
Pappy
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Thanks guys.
Darcy :)
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Damn that's beautiful...
78# out of such a slight piece of wood! Unbelievable.
Well done man.
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I'm with Hatch, always amazes me how much weight you can get out of a piece of osage. beautiful bow btw. love the leather handle and arrow pass. nice full draw shot.
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Getting the weight was the easy part.......I can't see how guys make 40#ers out of osage wider than this.........must scrape them about 7thousandths thick ;D
Thanks,
Darcy
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Maybe it has to do with the ring thickness..? I see at your tips you're at 3 thick growth rings.
Either way... impressive bow!!
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Very nice, i like everything about it !
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Thanks guys,
I tried to get built up to this weight but it was starting to mess with my form :-\.......so out with the rasp and scraper ;D. Took it down to 73# at 26" without changing the tiller any.........much easier for me to handle now. Strange that a mere 5# could make such a huge difference. I was really struggling with 78# but 73# is quite easy ??? I had to redo the markings as they were mostly removed in the reduction of the belly. I like the arrow through the name better now too. Here's a pic of the belly with the new text........I didn't bother with a full draw as it looks exactly the same as before.
Mass is now just a hair over 22oz
Darcy :)
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how did you mark it, it looks burnt in, and by the way, that bow is beautiful and it nice to see higher draw weights, i personally think that is around the perfect weight for everyday use, not overly excessive, but still allot of power behind it, and with that 5lbs, it might be more of a mental thing, making yourself think its easier
enjoy that bow, you did a great job
noel
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nice looking bow! man - you work quick!
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Thanks fellas.
Noel, Thanks for the comments. The text is wood burned in. I can assure you that my back muscles are positive it is not a mental thing ;D. Also, ideal draw weight has a lot of variables........I live where we have more moose than deer. It is nice to have a little more power when a 1300# animal is standing at 15 yards.........if I lived where my biggist game was a 200# whitetail things might be different. Also draw weight is only a piece of the power puzzle.........tiller and design as well as arrow weight and many other factors come into play. Limb tip weight may be one of the biggest factors in a normal length bow.........light, stiff tips add speed and reduce shock greatly. ;)
Darcy :)
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Thanks fellas.
Noel, Thanks for the comments. The text is wood burned in. I can assure you that my back muscles are positive it is not a mental thing ;D. Also, ideal draw weight has a lot of variables........I live where we have more moose than deer. It is nice to have a little more power when a 1300# animal is standing at 15 yards.........if I lived where my biggist game was a 200# whitetail things might be different. Also draw weight is only a piece of the power puzzle.........tiller and design as well as arrow weight and many other factors come into play. Limb tip weight may be one of the biggest factors in a normal length bow.........light, stiff tips add speed and reduce shock greatly. ;)
Darcy :)
i guess i was wrong about it being mental, everyone is different, personally though, against a moose, i would rather have a tank, but that bow would work i think ;D and trust me i know about heavy bows needing to be effective, i have a 140lb bow that is just for strength training, that shoots only a little farther than my 50#, although if i may say, i did a pretty good job with that one ;D
enjoy that great bow
noel