thin ring osage

[Jim Davis]

Thin ring has performed better for me.  The best Osage I ever used was very thin ring stuff like you describe and it had that "redness" to it.  It was great.

My experience with thin-ringed reddish Osage was a catastrophic failure at about 20" draw on the tillering frame. No visible defect, just amazingly brittle wood.

Thin ringed yellow wood has worked OK,  but I hate it. I have a lot of it with 30 or more rings per inch. Anybody who likes it want to trade for some wide ringed?

[SLIMBOB]

Interesting. My absolute favorite is thin ring. Dark or light colored, love them both. It is a bit more fickle to get one finished without it exploding, but those that make it, and most of mine do, are faster lighter springer bows. 

[bowster]

I also like thin ringed osage, most of the time itīs heavier than wide ringed osage, the only difficulty is to free the right ring with no violations. Look at this bow"http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,49482.msg675808.html#msg675808", itīs made of this kind of osage.

[bradsmith2010]

if it is "snappier" then it would take less set and hold a heavier draw weight with less mass,,
and shoot harder for a given draw weight,,
I have never seen anyone post chrono results with a superior thin ring bow,,, just curious if anyone has done or seen that,, I have a feeling it is more even than most would think,, seeing really great bows from both wide and thin ring,, I am not convinced there is that much difference that being said I have two very thin ringed staves roughed and and hope you are right

[Danzn Bar]

If the early to late wood ratio is good then you got some of the best osage out there IMO. Granted it does take time to chase a ring bu its worth it.

I have heard this many times from many people, and I don't mean to single you out Cody, granted I do not have as much experience as some.  But I do have this comment:  If early to late wood ratio is important, then how thin would the early wood have to be if the late is the thickness of a dime or thinner,      seams to me it would have to look like a line on the end grain.     I haven't seen any end grain on osage with the early wood as thin as a pencil line.

I would really appreciate it, if someone could post a few pictures of a thin ringed osage with good early to late wood ratio.

Thanks,
DBar

[SLIMBOB]

It is only my experience that tells me that thin ring is snappier as I have not shot thru a chrono in some years but, I am certain that I prefer thin ringed Osage over thick ringed based on that experience. The most remarkable bow I have made in a long time, maybe ever, is one I finished May or June of last year.  Knotty Boy will get you to the thread. Thin ringed and a high crown. Bright yellow in color. 3 inches or so of natural reflex and it still has 2 inches when first unstrung.  The high crown alone made keeping it together a bit iffy, and then add in the thin rings and knots, it was tricky. It finished around 50 lbs at 27 inches. It was very smooth and noticeably fast for a longish bow, 66 inches I believe.  One of my hardest hitters at that weight based on feel, and the depth it buries an arrow in my targets. Most remarkable is that it now pulls over 60. Haven't weighed it in some time but maybe 65 or so and it still has most of the setback it started with after countless shots. Can't say wether it's a product of the thin rings alone or some combination of factors, but it's not the first thin ringed bow that over performed for me. On the flip side, the really thick ringed stuff has often gone the other direction for me. More set and more sluggish by comparison. Just a feel more than anything, but I will bet on the thinner stuff being faster pound for pound.

[missilemaster]

If the early to late wood ratio is good then you got some of the best osage out there IMO. Granted it does take time to chase a ring bu its worth it.

I have heard this many times from many people, and I don't mean to single you out Cody, granted I do not have as much experience as some.  But I do have this comment:  If early to late wood ratio is important, then how thin would the early wood have to be if the late is the thickness of a dime or thinner,      seams to me it would have to look like a line on the end grain.     I haven't seen any end grain on osage with the early wood as thin as a pencil line.

I would really appreciate it, if someone could post a few pictures of a thin ringed osage with good early to late wood ratio.

Thanks,
DBar

  Bill, I have seen thin ringed osage where the early wood is equal if not thicker that the late wood, not something you want. Thin ringed osage is like normal wood that has been compressed so the ratio should stay the same. All the quality thin ringed I have worked has had paper thin early and thin dense late.

[sleek]

If the rings are super thin lime you say, best way to do it is remove the bark and use it lime white wood. First layer under the bark is your back and a solid ring. Done that lots of times. Almost all my osage I work is thin ring stuff. I wouldnt know what to do if I had a thick ring piece.

[bradsmith2010]

it would seem to me that if you had a thick ring bow and thin ring  bow both holding same amount of reflex and about the same mass,, there would be little difference in cast,, it might be easier to get a thin ring stave to hold reflex,, but I am not sure about that ,, I had a stave from David Mims,, the rings were so thick .. I have never made a bow from something like that,, I think the whole bow was 2 rings,very light yellow, anyway my friend made a bow that ended up about dead even,, it shot very well through the chronograph,, and went against what I thought was going to happen,, very nice shooting bow and great cast,,,I think in the bow mentioned above, the amount of reflex might be  contributing to the great cast as much or more than the thickness of the ring,,over all osage can just make some great shooting bows in any configuration that holds together,,

[Danzn Bar]

If the early to late wood ratio is good then you got some of the best osage out there IMO. Granted it does take time to chase a ring bu its worth it.

I have heard this many times from many people, and I don't mean to single you out Cody, granted I do not have as much experience as some.  But I do have this comment:  If early to late wood ratio is important, then how thin would the early wood have to be if the late is the thickness of a dime or thinner,      seams to me it would have to look like a line on the end grain.     I haven't seen any end grain on osage with the early wood as thin as a pencil line.

I would really appreciate it, if someone could post a few pictures of a thin ringed osage with good early to late wood ratio.

Thanks,
DBar

  Bill, I have seen thin ringed osage where the early wood is equal if not thicker that the late wood, not something you want. Thin ringed osage is like normal wood that has been compressed so the ratio should stay the same. All the quality thin ringed I have worked has had paper thin early and thin dense late.

Understand Cody,  I guess I have just never seen that kind of wood. 
Thanks,

[Lee Lobbestael]

can you treat it like white wood and use the sap wood directly under the bark?

[George Tsoukalas]

Chase a heartwood ring, Lee. You are better off. You'll get contrary opinions probably.

You can do it.

I've left thin ringed osage just a little wider for safety.

Jawge

[sleek]

can you treat it like white wood and use the sap wood directly under the bark?

George knows his stuff to be sure. No disrespect,  but I have almost completely quit chasing a heartwood ring infavor of sapwood. Your call of course. I think ( caution, this is me thinking ) that super thin ring stuff could be done like yew,and to heck with a ring, just work it.

[DavidV]

can you treat it like white wood and use the sap wood directly under the bark?

I wouldn't treat it like a whitewood but you can leave a few rings on. My last osage bow had 2 thin sapwood rings.

[Pappy]

I always try and chase a heart wood ring. It is really not that hard once you get started if the wood is pretty clean, Kind of fun really, if it is full of pins/knots and such and  also very thin ringed then I make walking sticks or knife handles out of it.
   Pappy