Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive on June 26, 2011, 02:21:34 am
-
I did a trade with gstoneberg for some osage a while back and he send me a couple character staves of osage. I think he may have said they were old fence posts. They had some issues in some spots and lots of drying cracks, but i told him that was ok, I dont mind tough pieces to work with (as long as the bow is for me. lol ) so i finally decided i needed a new hunting bow for the up-coming season. I sat down the other morning and let the short drawknife tell the story. I chased down a few rings and let the grain dictate where the bow should be. It came out pretty narrow after working some problem areas but i came out with a 62" bow and 63# @ 26" the lower limbs is all shades of knarly, top limb in pretty straight with one knot. the biggest crook in the bottom developed an insane crack that grew off of a drying check. i had to wrap it with artificial sinew just to finish the tillering process. then once i got it tillered out, i sanded it down, backed it with 1 course of sinew just to cover the drying checks and several wraps of real sinew to bind together a few problem cracks and such. it also has a primitively dyed leather grip and antler overlays.
now this goes to prove, if you are determined and take your time, you can take a severally cracked bow and salvage it into a real working bow.
The spot in the pic appears to be a hinge...but trust me i left it real thick in that area to keep it from bending......it just has lots of twist and a dogleg there to begin with..lol
so after shooting it for a few days now and everything is very tight, i dont hesitate to shoot it at all. i wont send a bow to anyone else that has a crack like that so i save those "problem children" to shoot myself. overall its as good as anybow i have hunted with in the past. this bow is my 91st selfbow. one my way to 100, i have to make that 100th bow something exceptional. so again 62" long 63# @ 26"
btw thats not a dig on gstoneberg in any way, i knew what i was getting
-
Nice job on a challenging piece of wood.
Jon W.
-
few more
-
Dang, I didn't mean to send you a stave that had problems. I did want you to have some fun with it though. ;) Sorry about that. I've had 2 or 3 staves really crack on me. I worked one today that cracked right through the bark and almost all the way through the stave. I always thought the bark would protect the back but my outdoor wood rack settled into the dirt and when the wood touched the ground bad things happened. Anyway, I'll be happy to send you another one if you like.
Having said that, it's a very nice bow. I feel good when I've taken a problem piece of wood and made a shooter. Good job.
George
-
nope dont sweat it george, you never mis-represented anything. you never know what a stave holds within
-
Nice save, looks cool...id put it on the take a bow hunting program ;D
-
Sneaky beauty....
-
I like you sewing nise ovelays .
-
Great job! Gotta love a good challenge! Tiller looks awesome and I really like how you sewed the handle. Character bows are my favorite! ;D
-
;D Very nice looks like a couple of the bows on my wall isnt sinew great. >:D
Katt
-
Great dedication in saving that beast. nice wiggles and of course I always love your grip/arrow rest combo. tips are sweet too.
-
Nice job looks like it was a challenging stave. Well done
-
nice job Ryan.i'm still loving all the bows that you have made for me.i really like those antler overlays.good luck with your new bow this season,steve
-
ryan,
that is a great looking bow.love the tiller...you must have taken a butt load of wood to montana to do some trading..john
-
Thanks a lot guys
Blacktail-- yup i took a looooot of wood to Montana, but its really starting to dwindle now, made a lot of bows since i have been here