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spliced osage billits

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luke the drifter:
i have two very exceptional billits of Osage orange about 48 inches long at 1.5 inches+ wide.  i plan to splice them using the double fish tail splice about five inches long.  has this ever been attempted to get a bow of warbow strength.  any advice or opinions welcome.

SEMO_HUNTER:
If a splice is done correctly they are exceptionally strong, but I have never built a warbow before. I would add a solid wood lam over the splice and use Urac for the glue up and see how it goes. A backing wouldn't hurt anything either.

CraigMBeckett:

--- Quote from: luke the drifter on June 05, 2011, 08:25:08 pm ---i have two very exceptional billits of Osage orange about 48 inches long at 1.5 inches+ wide.  i plan to splice them using the double fish tail splice about five inches long.  has this ever been attempted to get a bow of warbow strength.  any advice or opinions welcome.


--- End quote ---

In theory a splice can be stronger than the original wood, but I would be worried about the back giving way at the splice if the bow were made to bend through the handle, so instead I would make a stiff handled bow and would probably wrap the joint with some form of cord.

The "100lb" spliced bow I made did not last through the tillering process, it broke apart at the joint just as I reached 105lb at 32" . May have been my bad workmanship, may not.

Best of luck with your build.

Craig

adb:
This is a 100#@32" tri-lam with a spliced osage belly.

Del the cat:
A couple of weeks ago I saw a 170# warbow being shot, it was of spliced billets of Oregon Yew.
Del

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