Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Stick Bender on May 12, 2018, 07:15:54 am
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Over winter I spoted the ugliest looking osage tree off the road 400 yards or so ,twisty trunk when I got close to it there was the stratist grain strait peace Y coming off of it so I cut it with a poll saw and between making other bows it set in the back yard shellacked on the ends tell yesterday I discovered 2 natural checks right where I was going to split any way, so I drove a wedge into the large one and it was the easeist splitting I ever did the same on the other maybe 20 minutes between rain drops and I got 4 nice 86 in. staves like Clint says osage tells you where it wants to split , I will be checking out all ugly osage tree's in the Future !
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The struggle is real! Yet you have prevailed! Well done sir!
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Nice find Ritch.Early to late wood ratio looks pretty good.
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funny but cool. 8) Those are great rings.... good find.
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Nothing ugly there
Bjrogg
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Looks good from here!
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Good find!
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By ugly I meant this tree was spiral grain twisted ,crocked, bent every where else but had one section that was pipe strait & the bark grain was strait a real dimond in the ruff.
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That’s some pretty osage you got from the ugly trunk! That will make some really clean bows!
Now I go cry in the corner because this stuff is so hard to get over here if you are on a tight budget like me. Just shot my first osage bow in today and boy that osage shoots nice.
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Even in osage country good clean osage is hard to come by I would say in my area might find 1-15 trees with good quality clean wood not to say you couldnt make a bow out of less then perfect wood but with all the work I have got more selective what I cut !
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I love a good osage story. Well done.
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Ritch.....Are there many fence lines using osage posts in your area and travels?Many times here farmers will have a designated 1/4 mile or more row of osage they harvest from every 20 years or so.Osage will grow shoots like most trees from cut off areas.These shoots many times grow nice and straight for more nice straight fence posts for themselves.They need 8' for a fence post.
Harvesting sapling type candidates for bows from these make excellent bows.
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Ed I always keep my eyes open for those old fence posts but the ones I have seen I don't have access to but I discovered what I call a osage forest over the winter along a river bank the trees are old and big but I'm sure there is some smaller ones to just kind of hard to get to by truck but do have access to it , I will get in there this year at some point I saw some what appears to be strait bark grain in there , winter time after hunting season is a good time to look with the foliage down !
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I did'nt mean using old osage posts for bows.I meant using sapling type growth from stumps that were harvested from.
Yes winter time is the best time to diagnose bow making material.
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Yep I knew what you meant but wouldnt have access to them I would love to find some clean saplings !
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Great find
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That's some fine looking Osage, nice find. :)
Pappy
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Nothing ugly there
Bjrogg
Stickbender. I knew what you were saying about the ugly part of the tree. You sure found the swan in that ugly duckling tree though. Those look like some real fine staves.
Bjrogg
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Well if the truth be known the first time I hunted down a osage tree I was so excited to find one I could cut so I cut the hole tree after hours of back hurting labor I ended up with 4 usable so,so staves and a lot of fire wood for my very happy coworkers , every sense then I have learned to meticulously study the bark before cutting...lol
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It pays for sure to look at it good and hard.Most times anything showing on the bark will be dramatized or enhanced in the wood below.
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Awesome! That sounds like good juju to me.