just got my first stave

[ilcoalminer]

hey guys just got this 72 inch beauty today in the mail.  that reflex is right in the middle of the stave!  so i have one question how long of a bow should i plan to build with a draw of 28-30 oh and its gotta be recurved

thanks for your time

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ilcoalminer]

forgot to add the other pics 

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sailordad]

thats purty 

i like 66" bows,but my draw is little more consistant
are you insure of your actual draw legth?
you said 28"-30",but i would think 66" should still work
but ya might wanna wait for the more experienced chimes in
good luck

[kylerprochaska]

Looks like a really good stave...Im thinking what sailor is...keep it around 64-66"....acouple things though...make sure your stave is well seasoned...I made the mistake of rushing into my first osage stave and suffered more set than I would have liked (2-3"  ) the guy you bought it from should know how long its been since it was cut.  and just remember to take your time on the recurving if you decide to do that.  I learned really quickly that its a whole different game tillering a recurve when compared to a flatbow.  Good luck can't wait to see what you come up with!

-Ky

[ricktrojanowski]

If this is your first bow from a stave and you have 72" to work with, I would keep it on the long side.  66-68", with a 29"ish draw length this would probably be a good starting point.  If you are going to recurve it.  I would get it to about 5# of your intended draw weight and then recurve it.  This way your tips are nice and thin and easy to bend.  Overbuild your first that way it will survive and you will be inspired to start "underbuilding" .  Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[DanaM]

Personally if this is your first bow, I would leave it full length, then when you mess up and its to light you can start cutting it down to gain weight back.
You say recurve but what type? working or static? how big of curves? whats your real draw length? what weight to you want, rigid handle with a cut in shelf?
or a bendy handle bow with no shelf? I could go on and no I'm not being a smart aleck Just trying to open your eyes to all the possibilitiees and variables that go into making a bow.

Seeing as how you bought that stave, I would set it aside and go buy a nice hardwood board and practice some first.
Check out Jawge's site for some free and good information.
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/archer.html

Good luck and feel free to ask questions

[Lombard]

Second what Dana said.

[Pat B]

How many selfbows have you built and how many selfbow recurves have you built? You could make a 62" recurve(less with sinew backing) with this stave in an ideal world but without wood bow building and tillering experience you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Wait until you have a few regular well tillered bows under your belt before trying for such a bow.

[Canoe]

Howdy CoalMiner,

Welcome to the addiction of bending wood.

Yes, what DanaM said.
 
Tillering a bow correctly is challenging.  Learning to tiller a bow correctly is much more challenging.  And tillering a recurve correctly is more difficult than tillering any kind of straight bow.

I have about ten bows in various stages of completion.  (Meaning, I've tillered about ten straight bows.)  And, I have been watching guys build all sorts of bows on this forum for a long while now.  I still don't think I could properly tiller a recurve.

I'm sure you have a very nice stave there.  You'd be treating it well by setting it aside with intent on learning on a few other staves (or boards) before you procede on this one.  Remember, you can learn to recurve on some less expensive (less valuable) hardwoods than that osage.

What ever you decide, go slowly, and ask a lot of questions.  (And post pictures!! )

Good Luck,
Canoe 

[RyanY]

Holy cow! I'm glad I finally decided to check out this thread. I've only made one osage bow so I don't want to give too much adivice but if I had a white wood stave that good I wouldn't be afraid to go as low as 60". Just remember the shorter you make it the more set it is going to want to take and therefore it won't perform as well. I'd say 66" should work great for a recurve drawn to 28". Maybe a little longer if drawn farther. Remember, osage is very heavy dense wood so there's going to be a lot of mass kept up in those recurves. Good luck. I can't wait to see what you come up with.  

[rattlesnake]

my draw is 29"...i like my selfbow all 68"....they shoot better , till easier,......if you draw to 30"...ide say 70" all day.....snake

[ilcoalminer]

first off thanks for all the advice.  i said i'm shooting for a 28-30 inch draw cuz 29 should be my ideal and i though give or take an inch. but since the post i've thought twice and though i'd rather have a bit of an under draw instead of over draw. i'm planing on a 55# draw

The stave was cute a little over a year ago and has been stored in a garage since then. 

Here is a link with the bending template that i built.  the only diffrence on the one i built is i kept the recurve going all the way to the bottom of the board instead of cutting it short.

oh by the way this will be my first bow and i alway like a chalange and in illinois to hunt a white tail your bow has to be a recurve or compound bow.  i plan on taking my sweet time and post pics and asking tons of question especially when it comes time to tiller

[ilcoalminer]

lol i forgot to add i want a rigid handle with a shelf but i think i'll add the shelf out of a diffrent wood after the bow is done and glue it into place the wrap it up with the lether for the handle.

[ilcoalminer]

today has been a forget full day here is the link for the template of the recurve http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_N.html

[wildman]

Hey thats a nice looking stave Iv'e built several osage bows the shortest has been 54" everyones right the longer the better at first it will help alot of mistakes. If you want an osage stave to practice on give me a holler I got a shed full of some that have been cut 3 years that would be good to practice on before you got a hold of that nice piece of wood ya got there I may be in Harrisburg Sunday give me a call (270) 333-2602  you can have the stave if ya want one