paper thin Osage rings

[hook]

I have a piece of osage that I cut and split last year. There was some rot in it and long story short. the stave went from long to short. About 43 inches so I decided to make a kids bow. About 20#s at 20".
The growth rings are paper thin and difficult not to violate. Will this make a lightweight bow and still not crack my grandson on the head thus causing him to hate archery forever?

Thanks for the advice.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Back it woth rawhide to be sure. Its easy and cheap.

[Elktracker]

I have a bigger version than yours I got from John Strunk not to long ago I plan to back it with rawhide but im curious as well what peoples thoughts are on the tight ringed Osage. Sorry I cant help ya hook i dont live in osage country so I dont have much experiance with it, your not asking much however so im sure you could get away with it just doo allot of testing before giving it to you grandson. Look forward to an update on this one when it is done!

Josh

[PEARL DRUMS]

I have some super skinny rings. I saw it up into slats for backed bows. Just not worth the headache anymore.

[George Tsoukalas]

Well exactly how thick are the rings? If 1/16" that should be ok. Jawge

[gstoneberg]

If you can chase a ring it will for sure work.  So far I've never cut an osage stave I've not been able to take to a growth ring, but I suspect it'll happen sooner or later.  At that light draw weight I'd be surprised it you had a problem.  Back it with silk, thin cotton cloth or even brown grocery bag paper to be sure it'll take a kid's overdrawing.  You can probably find a pattern on the cloth your grandson would find cool.

George

[Pat B]

I love thin ringed osage. It seems to have more zip to it. I generally back thin ringed osage with rawhide...but that doesn't always protect against stupidity! 


This bow had very thin rings and over a thousand shots through it when stupidity hit! 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I think I remeber that little woops Pat?

[soy]

Ouch! 

[fishfinder401]

I think I remeber that little woops Pat?

looks more like a BANG woops

[Lee Slikkers]

All the Osage (ok, most all) I have harvested has been relatively thin ringed...I didn't know any better when I started but you can chase a ring just like the folks who are lazy and use the thick ringed stuff ( ) and I too think it lends for a rather zippy bow.  Good Luck~

[Elktracker]

Pat I dont recall that happening, do you have a link? Looked like a sweet bow!

Josh

[MWirwicki]

I dont' shy away from thin ringed osage.  The important part in my experience, is the ratio or relationship between the early "spring growth" and the summer growth rings.  The corky, spring growth rings are pretty much junk wood.  If your spring growth rings are thicker than your summer growth (denser) rings, you are generally limited to a low poundage bow and susceptable to breakage.  If your summer growth rings are thin and your spring growth rings are half that thickness, you will end up with a very stable bow.

[ken75]

ive made a couple 6 piece takedowns as well

[Pat B]

Josh it was last winter I think. I'll try to find it.  Shere Khan (or Shere Kahn) was the name of the bow and probably the thread. Late night, slightly impaired and an inch over drawn. 
  Ken we just need to figure out how to put them back together. 
 This bow not only had thin rings but quite a few knots and pins. It was going to be my hunting bow  this past year.