Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Gregoryv on February 09, 2020, 05:52:50 pm

Title: Osage can you see?
Post by: Gregoryv on February 09, 2020, 05:52:50 pm

As I really enjoy pictures and stories about harvesting bow staves I figured I would post my own.  So about a week ago driving thru the country on my day off I spot it!
https://imgur.com/gallery/4TkzqVz
Upon further inspection I noticed this adjacent hedgerow.
https://imgur.com/gallery/fhG74Ad
So I stop at the closest house, and the guy there is really helpful.  He tells me that the guy that owns that field is the guy he rents his house from!  I get his number, text him, and get permission to cut and harvest some of the Osage that grows there.
https://imgur.com/gallery/fDcnYn7
That is the first two trees I cut.  Quartered them then and there.
https://imgur.com/gallery/oE9kD9m
Third tree.  This one hung up bad and gave me some trouble.  Straightest grained cleanest Osage I have seen to date.  Quartered all of them, drove back and loaded.
https://imgur.com/gallery/xceEDI0
The haul.  Will leave it outside to dry a month, then split, debark, and seal and store in the shed.  Thank you all for viewing!!!

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Hamish on February 09, 2020, 06:02:30 pm

Hedge-olicious dude!!!

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Bubbabowyer on February 09, 2020, 07:48:51 pm

Looks great could you imagine if you had 400 or 500 acres of that stuff. I'd roll around tangled up in my own tongue!

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Gregoryv on February 09, 2020, 08:03:12 pm

If I had that much I would spend all of my time looking for a “perfect tree”. This haul probably took me a total of 10 hours over 2 days and most of it was looking thru the trees to figure out what to cut!

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: bradsmith2010 on February 09, 2020, 09:21:20 pm

Congrats,,,looks amazing

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Drawknife on February 09, 2020, 10:42:26 pm

Wow

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Hawkdancer on February 09, 2020, 11:41:55 pm

That is a serious bunch of future bows!
Hawkdancer

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Eric Krewson on February 10, 2020, 07:45:41 am

You don't need to let it dry a month before you remove the bark AND SAPWOOD, it will come off much easier now. If you don't have the time to remove the bark and sapwood spray the bark with a strong insecticide and do it later.

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Gregoryv on February 10, 2020, 10:24:23 am

What about further stave reduction?  Should I wait to ovoid warpage?

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Eric Krewson on February 11, 2020, 08:26:57 am

You can reduce a few staves to bow blank dimensions, if osage is going to twist or dogleg it will do it in stave or bow blank form, most of it needs a final heat correction once dry. I can get straight billets spliced into a straight bow blank but don't remember any stave bows that I didn't need to heat corect one way or the other.

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: maitus on February 11, 2020, 03:33:57 pm

I live in wrong country :).....

Title: Re: Osage can you see?
Post by: Hawkdancer on February 12, 2020, 12:49:52 am

Don't recollect seeing a live Osage tree since I moved to Colorado 50 years ago!  Maitus, any reply would be considered political by the admins (lol) (lol) (lol) >:D!  What! no Osage?!
Hawkdancer