Here is a fuming experiment osage bow.
I'm very pleased with what came out and started already new fuming jobs, hopefully with similar good results.
Stave
The stave was a very well seasoned piece of osage with lots of character there, humps and bumps, snaky curves, changing crown and some twist – caused into a lot of correction work (all done with the heat gun). The stave was too thin at handle, so I glued on a piece of matching osage. I tried to get invisible, but if you look close you can see it.
Fuming
The stave /bow was rough tillered before fuming. The whole thing came out pretty well black/dark brown. It was in the fuming tube for 5 days. The tillering process brought out a nice golden brown on the belly side.
Design
She is a asymmetrical flattie with steamed in gentle recurves. Cross section is more or less recangular, particularly with concave belly depending on the changing crown, tapering out into triangular outer tips.
One additional ring on the tips works like a kinda natural grown overlay and allows at the handle a sharp rounded back.
She is 59” long and pulls 62#/28”
The pics do not justice to the beauty of that bow, belief me. Belongs to th light, sometimes the back of this bow looks deep dark as night, sometimes it shimmers like a golden brown (can you hear The Stranglers?).
Back
Belly
Side
Braced
Shadow on the wall
Additional ring left on back of handle
Back of handle
Belly of handle
Side of handle, can you see the glued on piece?
Additional ring as a natural grown tip overlay
Sideview tip with rubbed in white pigments
