First Osage long bow, how's the tiller?

[bradsmith2010]

yes I looked back at the unbraced profile and see the deflex spot in the bottom limb thats making the full draw look  questionable,, it may be causing the appearance of a hinge,, but if the wood is bending even it should be ok,, like I said hard to tell from the photo,, you got great advice from above,, and with the dips and curves the stave had ,,,I think you did a great job,,congrats

[Parnell]

You did amazingly well for a "first timer".  Was the Osage standing dead?  When did you cut it?

[sweeney3]

Sand it, oil it, and shoot it.  Perfect tiller is rare even with clean wood, and it's really tough with character.  I'd hunt that bow.  Well done.

[jrmeza]

Thanks a lot guys! no, I went hunting for a bodark tree late in the summer, found a fully matured "triple tree" and cut down the straightest trunk out of the 3 sisters. Boy I will tell you, cutting down a 10" osage orange with a bowsaw is NO EASY TASK. The log was straight as an arrow, but after quartering it and roughing out this baby, the wavy grainage became very clear, not sure how a straight log could yield such a snakey bow, but I try not to question mother nature too much