So far I have made bows from Laburnum, Yew, Sloe (Prunus spinosa), Ash, Tree of Heaven, Hazel, Buckthorn, Ipe, Pear, Rowan, Elm even Alder (really bad bow wood, not worth the effort). I have in my sights; Boxwood, Cherry, and a lot more Sloe & Laburnum, and I may have found an steady supply of Yew! When I get a prospective new bow wood I make as many bows and styles as I can from it. One thing I always notice is that the consensus on a certain bow wood is not always correct. For example I have a deep D profile ELB style Ash bow that shoot and generally behaves better than flat bow styles from that wood and all the Hazel I have ever worked with has looked so promising only to crysal so bad even after heat treating that I have sworn never to touch it again. I will also admit that my preference for certain styles could also explain my failures as readily as issues with the wood.
One really important factor for me is wood density. I am always on the lookout for really dense wood, Sloe, Laburnum etc. Good bows can still be made from low density stuff like Buckthorn as we have seen over the last few weeks from Missilemaster and Pearl Drums.
I have never worked with Osage, and although I would like to it seems unlikely - as Scotland does not seem replete with Osage Orange trees – and besides it's a shame to only make one bow from a type of wood, as would be the case if I ever did score an Osage stave. So for me it's down to getting the toughest densest wood I can find and giving it a go.
As far as I can tell from being a member on here and paleoplanet and eating up every bit of bow flavoured information I can get, Osage Orange is a very dense wood that is good in compression and tension and does not mind changes in temperature and is very forgiving of bad design. Given all those factor I would say the balance of probability make it the best self-bow wood out there. Well not really out there – more over there! In the US.
All that aside I know there is a tree out there, not even sure what species, growing pole straight, wood as tough as brass, just born to bend and be made into the perfect projectile launcher. We haven’t met yet; but we will, I just pray I have a pruning saw on me when we do!
