Author Topic: Osage branch bow  (Read 6655 times)

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Offline Stickhead

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Osage branch bow
« on: January 19, 2013, 02:07:40 pm »
There's nothing fancy about this one, it's about a simple as they come.  The challenge was that this came from the skinny half of a 3" diameter branch with some bends in it, so I didn't have much wood to work with.  I'd been passing the stave over for years, figuring I couldn't find a bow in it.  I finally started carving, chased the outermost heartwood ring and had just enough wood to work.  However, the handle area was only about 3/4" thick, which made it slightly bendy, so I couldn't build it up with solid wood without it popping off.  I got the idea to use cork from a helpful suggestion here on the site, and that worked out just fine.

It's 65 lbs @ 26", 61" nock-to-nock, 1 3/4" wide tapering down to 3/8".  I put on a simple jute wrap, leather rest and a turtle scale for a strike plate.  I died it with red mahogany, which gives it sort of a pre-aged look.

It's my new best shooter, so I started hunting with it right away.  Low and behold, it's already put meat on the table, thanks to our late deer season, so I'm happy as a clam.


« Last Edit: February 08, 2013, 02:42:04 pm by Stickhead »

Offline Stickhead

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2013, 02:08:52 pm »
money shots here...

Offline ionicmuffin

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2013, 02:24:28 pm »
what a beautiful bow! i like how its not really complex, simple design, simple look. Makes it look elegant!
Amo innectis arcus- I love crafting bows (latin)

Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2013, 02:30:29 pm »
Very nice!  Love the bow!
Liberty, In God We Trust, E Pluribus Unum.  Distinctly American Values.

Offline bubby

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2013, 02:36:43 pm »
the last pic is the real money shot, nice bow, bub
failure is an option, everyone fails, it's how you handle it that matters.
The few the proud the 27🏹

Offline DGF

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2013, 02:39:08 pm »
Great bow and congrats on making meat with it so quickly!

-Dan
Wyoming, MI

Offline lesken2011

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2013, 02:40:29 pm »
Congrats on the harvest. Nice looking bow....and apparently a nice shooting one too!! ;)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline burchett.donald

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2013, 02:55:39 pm »
  Stickhead,
                     You say your as happy as a clam? You should be cause that's a pearl of a bow. I think that scale is from a box turtle?
                                                 Don         
Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

Offline Zion

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2013, 02:59:33 pm »
thats a great bow in every way, an obviously you put it to good use  :D
The secret of life is learning to make your own luck.

Offline dragonman

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2013, 04:30:06 pm »
thats a beautifull bow....nice work
'expansion and compression'.. the secret of life is to balance these two opposing forces.......

blackhawk

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2013, 05:04:47 pm »
Nice meatmaker..literally..... congrats

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2013, 05:31:06 pm »
Nice bow.  I like the color of it.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline StickMan47

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2013, 07:11:51 pm »
Very nice. If I manage to make my first Osage bow half that nice I'd be happy!!
Makin fine firewood, one bow at a time!

Offline ionicmuffin

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2013, 07:15:20 pm »
i know what you mean stick man! plus for me i only have one osage stave, so i have a low likelihood of making an epic bow with my current skillz, i think ill wait a bit before digging it ><
Amo innectis arcus- I love crafting bows (latin)

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Osage branch bow
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2013, 07:41:56 pm »
Thats really a nice bow.
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair