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Osage orange design?
bjrogg:
My first encounter with Osage was a wet log. At first it seemed like an incredible amount of work for what seemed like a crooked rubbery piece of wood. My stave was reduced to close to bow dimensions and the back and ends sealed right away. I didn’t pick it up again for several months.
I couldn’t believe the difference. It was stiff and springy. Even though it was incredibly crooked I could easily manipulate it with dry heat on the belly. What seemed like a sliver of wood I didn’t know if I could get a kids bow out of made my Simply Orange bow I still hunt with today.
You can make any design you want WB. And it is definitely worth the effort. Like Pat said. Remove the bark and sapwood before you narrow up your stave to much. You need to have a ring chased before you really know what you have to work with.
I honestly don’t measure anything except the center of the bow. I lay my Osage out with my draw knife and let it follow the grain. I don’t know if you want to try that, but I love how Osage works with a draw knife. All staves aren’t the same though and some tear out.
I also like reducing by taking belly splits. It really helps with the rapid reduction and I often get a belly stave that is often big enough to make a bow.
Getting the bark off an aged stave can be a big job.and hopefully no bug damage. If you have bugs you need to chase ring below the damage.
I looking forward to seeing what you create.
There’s a reason I still use Osage even though I’m allergic to it.
Bjrogg
Selfbowman:
If the log is 69” long build a 67” flat bow . You can’t go wrong if you have built selfbows before. I suggest 1-1/2 to 1-3/4” at fades. But most any design works on Osage
WhistlingBadger:
--- Quote from: Selfbowman on January 16, 2026, 02:09:49 pm ---If the log is 69” long build a 67” flat bow . You can’t go wrong if you have built selfbows before. I suggest 1-1/2 to 1-3/4” at fades. But most any design works on Osage
--- End quote ---
My frame of reference is hickory self bows and sinew-backed juniper. I'm guessing this is going to be a lot different from either of those. ;D The staves are around 84" long; some of them have a bend at the end I'll have to remove or work around but otherwise it looks straight, no knots, no twist!
The ends are sealed with glue, so I will have to do a little sawing to see what the rings look like. I'll try to post a few pics later. I'll probably try to split off some of the sapwood on the most likely looking stave this weekend.
bentstick54:
I’m with Arvin, aka Selfbowman. I wood trim the ends enough to see what the rings look like, mark how you want to try to split, and reseal the ends. I like 67” ttt , or 66” ntn flat bows. 1-1/2” to 1-3/4” wide at the fades tapering to 3/8” to 1/2” tips. Produces a durable, good shooting bow at about any draw weight. Once split, bark and sapwood removed, and the back sealed, set aside to dry. When you get ready to make a bow, get the limb thickness thinned to 5/8” to 3/4”, and dry heat will take out the bend in the end.
JW_Halverson:
I cant wait to see pics of whatcha got there.
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