??? about osage

[danny f]

hi all, i have just got my hands on my first osage stave, it is very short at only 51" abd has already been roughed out, it has a 4" handle which is 1" wide and then straight tapers to half inch tips. on the belly it has a gouge from a bandsaw so the limb thickness will only be about 10mm i was wondering whether i could get 50 ish # out of this stave. at 25" i plan on doing my first sinew backing too. also would it be a good idea to flip the tips to help with string angle? another thing i though was maybe splice some tips to get abit more length but am scared of ruining it. as the tips are so narrow already there isnt room for mistakes.  any advice appreciated thanks danny.

[Poggins]

Got any pics , I've seen a lot of short osage bows lately , some under 50" pulling over 50# at 27" .

[SLIMBOB]

Hey Danny.  I rarely think in terms of how thick a limb will be once I'm finished.  I just get it tillered right and what ever it is it is if I have limiting factors like that.  I know others will be better able to answer that question.  I would flip the tips for sure.  Sinew backed little Plains bow sounds cool to me.  Good luck with it and keep us posted.

[danny f]

i will try and get pics on tommorow when its light. slimbob by the limbs being 10mm i just meant they wouldnt be any thicker because of the gouge, they may even turn out thinner. i will post progress as i make the bow. i am limited because the bow has been roughed out and is so narrow and short but im looking forward to the challenge. if anyone knows of any bows with dimensions similar to this if you could post a link and i will check them out. thanks

[Josh B]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,33710.15.html It really depends where the 10 mm thickness is.  If its on the outer half of the limbs you should be able to do that pretty easy with sinew.  If its that thin at the handle, maybe not so much.  It really is hard to say for certain.  All you can do is try.  I wish I could be more help on that.  As far as flipping the tips goes, I generally flip the last three or four inches on those kind of sinewed shorties.   It does improve the smoothness of the draw considerably.  Josh

[danny f]

the 10mm would be about midlimb the handle had about 3/4 inch. i thought with it being pryramid the limbs would be pretty much the same thickness throughout there length. thanks for the link that bow is a stunner. thats some draw for 49"

[Josh B]

I understand what your thinking on the thickness taper, but to get the equal thickness all the way down the limb, it has to be more of an exagerated pyramid.  Going from 1" handle to 1/2" tips is not enough of a width difference for even thickness to work.  What your talking about with this stave is actually closer to an elb than a pyramid bow.  If you think of an elb profile, it pretty much tapers in width to the tips, but since its so narrow, the thickness has to taper to the tips as well to bring it into tiller.  I hope that makes sense.  Josh

[Joec123able]

I understand what your thinking on the thickness taper, but to get the equal thickness all the way down the limb, it has to be more of an exagerated pyramid.  Going from 1" handle to 1/2" tips is not enough of a width difference for even thickness to work.  What your talking about with this stave is actually closer to an elb than a pyramid bow.  If you think of an elb profile, it pretty much tapers in width to the tips, but since its so narrow, the thickness has to taper to the tips as well to bring it into tiller.  I hope that makes sense.  Josh

Yea I agree it would have to be more of a dramatic width taper like 2 inchs tapering to 3/8

[JonW]

Maybe this will provide some insight.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,39483.msg526024.html#msg526024

[danny f]

i see what you mean. thanks. im glad i didnt just start hacking wood off to get it all to one thickness. lol. thanks for the link jon that bow is nice i saw it when you posted it. you did a great job. with a bow like that how many layers of sinew would you put on? i havent done any sinewing yet i have only used rawhide.

[JonW]

Danny If you are going to put in the time to sinew you might as well do three.

[danny f]

well i got the bow floor tillered and have put some static recurves in. the belly wood stayed good but the back has some cracks  i wasn't sure whether to bother sinewing this bow, but because of these cracks i was wondering if i would be better off doing it now? this bow is very narrow and i wouldnt like it to explode on me. i am hoping for 25" maybe 26" at a push, does it look possible with this stave being so narrow and short? heres some pics of it.





 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Those cracks happen when you steam wood that isn't dry enough. That can happen with "seasoned" wood just as easily. Its all about the moisture content at the time you steam the wood. It'll do it every time. I would suggest rawhide, unless you have sinew ambitions. Either will be fine. Fill those cracks with ultra thin CA glue first before you do either. Those statics look great! Im a sucker for hooks.

[Joec123able]

Very nice recurves Ive steamed wet wood multiple times and never had those cracks appear

[PEARL DRUMS]

You got lucky big Joe. Did you seal the area steamed? Sometimes it can help.