Main Discussion Area > Bows
First Selfbow - Osage Orange Bendy Handle
CypressCreekKnives:
--- Quote from: Pat B on August 30, 2025, 04:37:05 pm ---Welcome CCK. You should have posted pics of the stave before you reduced the width. I built 2 bows from Osage that had plenty of checks(longitudinal cracks), some went all the way through the limbs. I filled them with super glue, doing it in sessions so the previous one cured before adding more. Both bows came out pretty well and as far as I know they are still shooting. Below are pics of the checks after fixing.
Also if, when you are posting pics, you click on the BB Code, message boards and forums, second from the bottom the pics will come up on the screen and not just a link.
--- End quote ---
Looking at your photos has me thinking I probably could've gotten away with the checks I removed. I wish I had a photo of the original stave!
Thanks for the tips for the photos. I'll try that on the next go round!
Pat B:
Willie, it is with the Imgur a free photo hosting site. When you click on the pic you want to post you have 6 options and one is the BB Code for web sites and forums.
CCK, it doesn't take much Osage to make a good bow. Even crappy staves can usually be manipulated into a bow with a little imagination and a lot of patience.
CypressCreekKnives:
--- Quote from: Pat B on August 31, 2025, 12:44:33 am ---Willie, it is with the Imgur a free photo hosting site. When you click on the pic you want to post you have 6 options and one is the BB Code for web sites and forums.
CCK, it doesn't take much Osage to make a good bow. Even crappy staves can usually be manipulated into a bow with a little imagination and a lot of patience.
--- End quote ---
The staves are pretty knotty and twisted. It'll take some time and effort to chase a ring and work out the twists, but I have some renewed confidence after this build. Most of my staves have very thin rings, 1/16-1/32". Unfortunately, my best stave (straight and no knots) has growth rings that are indistinguishable from one another. I won't be able to chase a ring on it, but I guess I could back it with rawhide...
Eric Krewson:
Your bow cracks are called wind shakes, really common in osage, when you split out your staves you can try to avoid them, sometimes this is not possible.
When you click on the BBC code when you pull up a picture on Imgur it will copy, paste the code in your text as you type your text, when you hit post, the pictures will appear in your text.
I use Imgur a lot because I like to post my pictures as I write a paragraph, not have them all at the bottom of the page like the PA picture version does.
Pat B:
CCK, many years ago when I was first starting to build wood bows someone gave me 3 Osage staves. They should have been firewood but I figured that osage was so rare to me that I would try to see what I could do with them. I worked on these staves all winter. Between the three they had about every malady an osage stave could have. I worked slowly, thoughtfully and when I got frustrated I put them aside and walked away. By spring I had made 5 bows from these three staves. They all shot but were pretty ugly; crooked, twisted, etc, but they worked like a bow should. I learned more about making wood bows that winter than before or since. There are lessons in every stave if you take the time and interest in looking for them.
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