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Author Topic: First osage self bow  (Read 6005 times)

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Offline Hilongbow

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First osage self bow
« on: September 23, 2019, 04:50:58 pm »
Aloha all,

I just completed my first osage selfbow thanks to the generosity of the people on this board sharing their knowledge. I got the stave in a trade with dylanholderman.

I shaved down through the bark, sapwood, and a few layers of heartwood to get below some minor bug damage and find a thicker ring. Got a good ring with lots of ups and downs, concave areas, flat areas, pin knots, etc. It was pretty fun to work.

Due to knot placement I ended up laying out the profile a hair over 1 1/8" wide for the middle third, tapering to 1/2" tips. I had originally intended to end up with a 50# @ 26" draw, but early on in tillering (long string, drawing 10" or less) it started taking a lot of set. I figured it wasn't wide enough and started tillering towards 45# and it took no more set for the rest of the tillering process.

Turns out my draw is actually a little shorter with this bow, so it finished up 56" ntn, 42# @ 24" measured to the back. Haven't drawn it past 24.5"

It shoots pretty well. If you don't hold it quite right it's got a mean hand shock and makes some noise, but with just the right touch, all you hear and feel is the arrow sliding around the bow over your hand.

With this bow, I was going for something that to the untrained eye just looks like a stick when unstrung. Take a look:























Mahalo for looking!
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Offline Stickhead

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2019, 04:56:01 pm »
Congrats on a fine first Osage bow!
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Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2019, 05:12:09 pm »
Tiller looks pretty good, nice execution, and I absolutely love the wonky-tonk badonk in it!

You got nothing to carp about, you done good!
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Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2019, 05:20:29 pm »
Nice work!  It has character
,
Hawkdancer
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Offline Weylin

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2019, 06:43:25 pm »
That's a first bow to be proud of! You did a great job with the tiller, especially considering the character in the stave. You were wise to keep the design simple and focus on getting a good bend. I bet you learned a lot from making that bow.
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Offline Deerhunter21

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2019, 06:48:14 pm »
Thats a really nice bow you got there!
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Offline bjrogg

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2019, 06:51:07 pm »
What Weylin said. Is that your first bow to? Or just first osage?
Either way nice job on a tricky stick.
Bjrogg
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Offline M2A

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2019, 08:30:20 pm »
That's a tough stick to tiller. Very nice work!
Mike 
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Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2019, 09:47:19 pm »
Looks pretty dang good!  You nailed the tiller.
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Offline leonwood

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2019, 08:52:20 am »
Great tiller on that one! Love that wonky osage too!
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Offline Pat B

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2019, 08:54:33 am »
Nice simple bow from a challenging stave and beautiful tiller. Well done.   :OK
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Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2019, 11:38:36 am »
That is a great first bow, 10 times better than first. I see a slight issue on the lower limb but nothing that will cause any trouble down the line.
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Offline kbear

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2019, 05:31:30 pm »
Very nice bow mate. Simple, elegant, characterful, nice bend. Great job!
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Offline Hilongbow

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2019, 05:00:10 am »
Thank you all for the nice comments! It was a joyful challenge to make, and that "wonky-tonk badonk" certainly had me scratching my head a lot. To clarify, this is my first osage selfbow but not my first bow. I've made about 10 other bows of various design, including 1 crappy selfbow early on.

Eric, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the lower limb. Oddly enough, even though it was the straighter of the two limbs (at least from the front), I probably spent more than twice as much time on it. It had some natural deflex along its length that made it hard for me to judge an even bend while tillering. This deflex originated from a kink about 5" south of the center.

So far after a couple hundred shots it is still holding at 42#@24".

Aloha and happy shaving  :BB
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Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: First osage self bow
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2019, 07:23:17 am »
From your full draw picture it appears you have a slightly weak spot about 7" in from the nock. It could be the picture as they tend to distort things. From the rock in the background the weak spot is just below the rock. You have a thicker limb above the weak spot that looks slightly stiff as well. Again, pictures tend to distort things and I could be wrong.
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