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Osage orange design?

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bjrogg:
I would just seal it. Once you have it cut to length you don’t really want it checking on you. You might be safe , but it’s really just a good habit to seal it. And when you chase a ring for sure. Even if you don’t finish chasing the ring, seal the back. It can check badly overnight. Especially sapwood.

Bjrogg

WhistlingBadger:
Here are what the rings look like.  I think these checks are going to be hard to avoid, but hopefully once I get the bark off I can find a place to thread the needle somewhere.

bentstick54:
Leave the staves 84” long and remove the bark and sapwood and seal the back. Sometimes those end checks will only go in 6” or 8”. If you’re lucky with the extra length of your stave you can shorten it to get past the checks and still have plenty of stave to work with.
I’ve made 50# bows as short as 61” and 63” with 4” stiff handle and 2” fades.

driving:

--- Quote from: WhistlingBadger on January 16, 2026, 12:13:03 am ---I scored what appears to be a nice Osage orange log from a friend.  It's been sitting in his shed for around 20 years, he says.  It does have some extensive checks--I won't know how bad until I get the bark off a stave and start working it--but I think I was able to avoid the worst ones with judicial splitting.

So, I've never worked with Osage before...I seem to remember reading that narrow and deep, with a D-cross section and fairly bendy tips is the way to go.  Is that right?  All my successful bows thus far have been flatbows, so this is new territory for me.  Recommendations?

I'm hoping to get a c. 60# bow that will draw smoothly, be reasonably forgiving of my creative ineptitude, and cast a 600-700 grain arrow with authority.

--- End quote ---

You’re remembering right. Osage shines as a narrow, deep D-section bow with crowned back and stiff outer limbs. Start conservative: leave it thick, chase a clean ring, and let it tell you where it wants to bend. Bendy tips are fine, but don’t force them. For 60# with heavy arrows, smooth tiller and mass placement matter more than elegance.

JW_Halverson:
Hey buddy, those rings look delicious! I think you got some good wood there if you can thread the needle, as you so eloquently put it! Almost makes me wanna hone my draw knife and drive over to help you chase rings!

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