Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Drawknife on November 21, 2019, 10:29:46 pm
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For the last 1.5 years I have been making my first bow out of an osage stave. Worked on it a lot at first and stopped here and there due to issues I didnt know how to work out. About a week ago I decided I just needed to finish it no matter how it turned out and came to the realization (may sound stupid) that I was definitely not going to master this new craft on the first try (little bit of a perfectionist). So on I have gone and finally got the bow to low brace. Really pumped and already looking forward to bow #2. I used a vendor to get this stave and asked him to pick me out an easy one to work for my first bow. Well I got sent a snaky bow with huge knot and checking that I eventually worked out. I went ahead and told the vendor (that guarantees satisfaction) that I was not happy and they basically told me that they have made good bows out of worse staves. Needless to say I'm proud of what I've done so far with a draw knife and rasp but wont be giving that vendor another dime. (Stave was 200 to my door) I say all this to ask where do you all get your staves of osage? I'm working on finding some I can harvest but that hasn't panned out yet. Probably want to pick up a few staves next year. Should be clear that this is my second attempt. First attempt was a piece of osage I bought on ebay that had paper thin rings so thin I could violate them scraping with a swiss army knife. Now I have watched lots of videos and read hunting the osage bow. So a bit better off.
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More pics.
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Have a bit of a hinge in the upper limb but have plenty of weight to work with right now. Working on building a tillering tree and waiting on a friend that is sending me a gizmo. First bow is gonna be relatively simple. Straight osage flatbed nothing fancy. Will have some character though. Stave does seem to want to be a bow after all.
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Well, there is a first time for everything! Good luck and be patient! Post plenty of pictures and remember the only dumb question is the one you don't ask! :BB >:D (lol)! I'm a bit of a newbie, too!
Hawkdancer
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Mark the hinge area so you don't accidentally scrape it more. Bin there done that. If you pull it off that will be a nice looking bow :)
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side view of the bow??
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Looks nice so far, if you start having problems with tear outs using the draw knife you can flip it over and use the bevel side down. Gives you a little bit more fine control when you need it.
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side view of the bow??
Here you go
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Mark the hinge area so you don't accidentally scrape it more. Bin there done that. If you pull it off that will be a nice looking bow :)
Yes sir. I have done that.
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Mark the hinge area so you don't accidentally scrape it more. Bin there done that. If you pull it off that will be a nice looking bow :)
Yes sir. I have done that.
Hey, thankyou, do you think you could get one at full draw at 90degree angle and one sideways at 90deg so we can see the bend? if your confused look at this http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,66807.0.html
he pulls it back with one side facing us and has one not drawn with one side facing us. it allows us to see hinges and stiff spots and the bend. Thanks!
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I would love to know who the vendor is, so I avoid buying from them. Can you share that info, even if by pm? No excuse for advertising a good stave and sending what you got.
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Mark the hinge area so you don't accidentally scrape it more. Bin there done that. If you pull it off that will be a nice looking bow :)
Yes sir. I have done that.
Hey, thankyou, do you think you could get one at full draw at 90degree angle and one sideways at 90deg so we can see the bend? if your confused look at this http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,66807.0.html
he pulls it back with one side facing us and has one not drawn with one side facing us. it allows us to see hinges and stiff spots and the bend. Thanks!
Will do. I havent gone far passed brace at the moment. Currently building my tillering tree. I'll get you a few pics soon.
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I would love to know who the vendor is, so I avoid buying from them. Can you share that info, even if by pm? No excuse for advertising a good stave and sending what you got.
PM sent.
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My best advice would be grab a hickory board and build a pyramid.that stave is challenging for a seasoned Bowyer.
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My best advice would be grab a hickory board and build a pyramid.that stave is challenging for a seasoned Bowyer.
Reason I went with osage is that i live in Louisiana and hickory doesnt do well in our hight moisture environment. It so I've read.
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Heat treated hickory works fine regardless of the humidity. It is a lot easier to find a straight hickory stave, or even a decent board, and heat treat it than to use anything less than a primo osage stave to make a first bow. Heat treating is a useful skill to learn regardless.
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Sorry to hear that you got ripped off on that stave. (and you did get ripped off) That's the kind of stave that you throw into a deal for free to see if you might get a bow out if it. You should be able to get a straight, clean osage stave for $50-$100. Anything more than that and there should be something truly exceptional about the stave. There's likely a bow in that stave but I don't think you're doing yourself a favor by trying to coax a first bow out of that without hands-on guidance. We can do our best from pictures but you really need to have your hands on a stave like that to know what to do with it. My advice would be to set it aside for now and get yourself a nice, clean and reasonably priced stave that wont give you major obstacles for your first bow build. If you can find a source for a good stave, send me a message and I'll point you towards someone that will shoot straight with you.
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Sorry to hear that you got ripped off on that stave. (and you did get ripped off) That's the kind of stave that you throw into a deal for free to see if you might get a bow out if it. You should be able to get a straight, clean osage stave for $50-$100. Anything more than that and there should be something truly exceptional about the stave. There's likely a bow in that stave but I don't think you're doing yourself a favor by trying to coax a first bow out of that without hands-on guidance. We can do our best from pictures but you really need to have your hands on a stave like that to know what to do with it. My advice would be to set it aside for now and get yourself a nice, clean and reasonably priced stave that wont give you major obstacles for your first bow build. If you can find a source for a good stave, send me a message and I'll point you towards someone that will shoot straight with you.
PM sent. That's tough advise to swallow being as I just got back into and feel so close. But I suppose its advise I'd ought to take. I dont have a lot of money on hand at the moment so maybe I'll set this aside and do the board bow idea or something. I'll probably be thanking you later for your advise though. I'll set it aside and see what lowes, home depot and maybe your source has to offer.
Thanks,
D
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sent you a PM