Got an osage character bow made for me, well? (couple questions) pics/new vid!

[nineworlds9]

Well, I've been devouring the TBB vol.1-3 and learning a lot.  Still haven't started making bows myself, just don't have the time right now between 2 jobs, wife about to have our 1st child, etc., the usual stuff, haha.  Well, had a fellow I know over on Tradgang who makes osage bows whip me up a little osage character bow.  It's kinda Hill style to me, has a shelf, antler tips.  65" long, draws about 40-40ish pounds @ 28".  Stave was heated to reflex and final tillered bow has a hint of string follow.  It is kinda snakey.  The osage is a lovely gold, really glows.  Coated in tru-oil.  Other than the snakiness the one character trait that stands out is that it has about a 6 inch surface crack right down the belly along the riser section right under the grip.  I probed it with a pin and it seems shallow.  The maker assures me this is not an issue as this is an area that does not flex during the draw, and that he would not have finished the bow had he believed it to be a problem.  The bow turned out a bit lighter weight than I had hoped for.  The maker did not have a scale at the time and just went by how it tillered.  I was hoping for a 45-55 pound bow and it turned out to be closer to 40.  Thoughts on the bow overall?  Does it look good to the trained eyes out there?  There is one spot on the top limb that looks to have been heat treated that almost resembles a hinge, but when I bend the limb/draw it it does not appear to bend in that spot.  The tiller as far as I can tell is very good.  How can you tell if you have a hinge in a limb?  Anyway, I'm an artist myself, in a different medium, but I can tend to be hypercritical of handcrafted items.  I get that it's a character bow and I'd say overall I'm very happy with the result.  So far I've shot the bow and it is very accurate, seems to shoot quick, and is overall a pleasure to shoot, very very quiet.



















   

[nineworlds9]

[Barefoot_Jake]

Wow Thats a beaut! I really like the color on that bow

[nineworlds9]

[nineworlds9]

Thanks barefoot!

The color on this bow is definitely wonderful.  Classic osage.  I can't wait to see what it will look like in a few years.  I daresay although it's a bit lighter draw weight than I was hoping for, this bow shoots as sweetly as my glass Miller Old Tom, which has me very happy.  All wood bows are really becoming my passion, this will be the third one I now own, and it's the first bow I've ever commissioned and bought brand new, that says something.  Just love selfbows.  Really can't wait to make my own.

Could it be that this bow will dry out some more over time and perhaps gain some weight?  That isn't how it works is it?

[soy]

 would really like to see a full draw pic.

[nineworlds9]

would really like to see a full draw pic.

Did you one better and made a video:

http://youtu.be/YCk_WesydUw

[danny f]

nice bow, tiller looks good to me, i was just wondering how come the shelf is on the right side of the bow when you draw right handed? i was told it should be on the other side so there is no danger of the arrow pulling away from the bow while drawing. and ending up in the next county lol.

[DarkSoul]

You make me shiver by holding that bow at full draw for more than twenty seconds!  That's for glass recurves, not for wood bows! Hold at full draw for no more than a few seconds. For demonstrating tiller, pull multiple times after another, so we can see the bow take its bend rather than the static bend at full draw.

That bow looks well made, nicely finished and very shootable. Those cracks will not cause an issues, since they don't run off the sides of the limbs. Those heat treated areas are possibly areas that needed to be heat straightened and are nothing to worry about. The tiller is acceptable for an osage bow, but I personally think it could have been better. Really, it's nothing osage can't handle, but I could be critical on the tiller. The top limb seems too stiff just past midlimb and the bottom limb seems a bit hingey about 8" from the handle.

Enjoy your bow! You now have a good example of what a wooden bow looks like, so you know what your next project should become...

[WillS]

You make me shiver by holding that bow at full draw for more than twenty seconds!  That's for glass recurves, not for wood bows!

Its agonising to watch! I was sure the video had been frozen at full draw and it made me look away when I realised it wasn't!

[nineworlds9]

Oops, guess I durability tested it, guess I didnt realize that was a bad thing but now I know.  it just seemed so easy since its only 40# or so.  As for the shelf, LoL, Im a lefty shooter and was only holding the bow on the wrong side for the video.  I'll make another doing the draw/release like you said.  I'm very happy with the little osage bow so far, like I said she shoots very accurate.  Just need to name her. 

[Weylin]

My wife asked me what was wrong, I guess I was visibly squirming in my chair while I was watching you hold the bow back.

[sleek]

AHHHHH!!!!! Let go already! wow, how about naming her long draw, or duradraw, or wont blow, ( maybe not that last one ) or resilient. For that bow to have taken no damage from that extended draw, she IS resilient.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Its osage.

[sleek]

Awww Hell the KING! or is that all hail?