Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Henning on March 21, 2022, 07:44:40 pm
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Anyone got some seasoned osage for sale? Looking to try my first osage bow
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just planted some. should be ready in about 10 yedars
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Lol well damn, forreal though if anyone has any I'm willing to buy
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I don’t have any Osage left at the moment but I do have some seasoned hickory staves ready to work. Osage is not naturally grown or common up in my neck of the woods so I would have to have it shipped to me from the US. White wood bows could also be a good place to start if it’s your first bow. Not sure if it’s your first bow or not but a good white wood bow stave can be easily had or harvested yourself even and dried after working green and strapped to a form and left to dry for a few weeks. I’ve made many of my bows this way and have been quite good bows. Fire hardening after a few weeks of drying on a form after floor tiller green saves a lot of dry time. A good fire hardened white wood bow will perform as well as any Osage bow in my humble opinion. Osage could be expensive learning if mistakes are made. Lately I’ve moved away from Osage as it’s gotten expensive and I found success with white woods. Just my 2 cents.
Cheers and good luck.
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We don't openly buy or sell here on PA. Trade only.
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Talk about expense....I've just bought 3 osage staves...close on 100$ per piece plus postage of $195 and then i've got £72.43 to pay for 'import duty' neckednd of $600 for 3 staves....
These are for customers orders and i'll make the money back but....it is getting silly now. Very little profit in it.
The other option for me is to go and cut superb quality elm or yew for free.....not too hard of a choice now! Or try and steer people towards lam bows...
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I agree with these fellas.I've got osage growing all around me and am not into selling staves much but with this heat treating and sinewing onto these whitewoods they don't take a back seat to osage in any way shape or form.
Elm,ironwood,and hickory are top notch bow woods for me here.In fact if these white woods are harvested in the spring with the sap beginning to flow the bark pops off easily.It's the back of the bow there.No rings to chase.
If I had hard maple growing around me I think I'd include that wood too.
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Osage is a pain even if you source it yourself. I just cut two logs The other day and one of them had great growth rings but ended up with 90° twist and was a pale sickly yellow. The other one was a great dark orange and stayed straight but the early would was touching through most of it It, hardly had any good late wood rings. Then you have the fact that you have to chase a ring and be careful to seal the back That's a lot of extra work. I'd rather just deal with some good white wood
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You didn't mention where you live, if osage grows in your area you can find a way to get some. I cut most of my osage in front of a bulldozer after asking the people clearing land if I could have it. I have seen a downed osage tree and contacted the city office to see if I could salvage it. I know if I put an ad in the local swap and shop paper stating that I wanted to buy standing osage trees I would be swamped with offers, most people hate these trees. Sometimes you have to get creative to acquire osage.
If you don't have the necessary equipment for cutting trees, buying is your only option.
If it is not in your area eBay is covered up with staves, the cheaper stuff is green, you do have to know your osage to separate the good from the questionable, your bow making skill lever will dictate what you can work and what you need to avoid.
I got this tree just by contacting the city road department and asking if I could salvage it.
(https://i.imgur.com/w4oW1b7.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YC1a6LC.jpg)
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All good options.
If you really want Osage and honestly I encourage everyone to try it. Or any supplies. If you can make it to some place like Mojam or the classic. Any of the primitive meets. I encourage people to attend them and take every bit of spending money you can. Or something to trade.
It’s so nice to see what your being offer. To talk with the seller or trader. Not having any shipping saves so much. And I can guarantee you will leave with a smile on your face.
Bjrogg
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If it is not in your area eBay is covered up with staves, the cheaper stuff is green, you do have to know your osage to separate the good from the questionable, your bow making skill lever will dictate what you can work and what you need to avoid.
I only know of 3 or 4 osage sellers on ebay, am I missing something?
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Years ago I had made a good deal of trading a foxhide quiver for an osage stave....
I have also received Osage from the USA via ebay. Nowadays, the freight costs are the limiting factor for me. They are now - no matter in which direction from and to Europe very high - apart from the customs duties.
In Europe, I would currently try to get Osage from Hungary or Slovenia...
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All good options.
If you really want Osage and honestly I encourage everyone to try it. Or any supplies. If you can make it to some place like Mojam or the classic. Any of the primitive meets. I encourage people to attend them and take every bit of spending money you can. Or something to trade.
It’s so nice to see what your being offer. To talk with the seller or trader. Not having any shipping saves so much. And I can guarantee you will leave with a smile on your face.
Bjrogg
I agree and still think Osage is the king! Just an opinion guys. Leaves more for me!!!🤠🤠🤠
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Only a few sellers on ebay that are worth talking to...
Three skinny staves - $172 dollars to ship to England....
Wish I'd had the foresight years ago to buy everything that used to be available...
My first ever osage stave off ebay was less than £20 and the shipping was under $40. that was the best stave I've ever had....
check the trade blanket for my offer to anyone with a load of 'sage!
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Just checked, I counted 16 osage staves on eBay by going down the page just a little bit, to me that is a lot of staves. I did notice the prices had doubled since the last time I looked a year or so ago. They used to be almost always at "buy it now" price, now they are are mostly on a bid system so I don't know what the final price will be.
This is a really nice one;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125217782989?hash=item1d278fbccd:g:AuwAAOSwpv1iOSBT
Beware of the ones cut this year that still have the sapwood on, although sealed the sapwood will often crack deeply into the heart wood. If you buy one of these staves get the sapwood off the day you receive it in the mail.
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Prices have definitely gone up. It was common to get a decent stave, usually with the sapwood off, back sealed for $40-70, for many years. Not just with ebay, but over the last 20 or more years prices stayed flat, despite inflation.
I hate paying more than I have to, but the higher prices are a more accurate reflection on the worth of a nice osage bowstave, especially with all the extra prep work.
There seems to be a line with some semi/pro bowyers. They charge $300-400 for a decent finished osage or yew bow, despite the retail value of the stave, which they may have gotten for free(nothing is really free, when you count labour, haulage).
Many bowyers really under value the price of their materials and labour, when compared with other craftsmen, such as luthiers, cane fly rod makers, or even fg bow makers.
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i just got back from ojam and made a bow plus came back with 4 extra osage staves these primitive gatherings are great for picking up stuff that you cant get locally
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I gotta make it to that event sometime.
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I'd love to try osage someday, but WOW, that's a lot of money for a piece of wood...Now that I have a couple good hunting bows and the pressure's off, I think I'll keep experimenting with the local woods. More work, more memories, more connection to the land I hunt. And less money. ;D
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i just got back from ojam and made a bow plus came back with 4 extra osage staves these primitive gatherings are great for picking up stuff that you cant get locally
That’s what I’m talking about Muleman.
Really if there’s any way you can make it to one of these events, by all means Go.
I’m very frugal. I haven’t had even a dollar in my pocket for months now. The first meet I went to I spent all my money I had with me and wished I had brought more.
One other tip. Fill your gas tank as soon as you get there so you have enough to get back home.
Bring stuff to trade. I get a lot of my stuff through trades. I’ve made some really good friends and connections that way.
Bjrogg
PS $40 or $70 bucks seems like a lot until you drag a log from the bottom of a ravine, load it up and take it home. Peel the bark, chase a ring, seal the back and ends and store it away for a couple years.
Don’t be afraid your getting screwed.lol and the real screw job is shipping
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Elm,ironwood,and hickory are top notch bow woods for me here.In fact if these white woods are harvested in the spring with the sap beginning to flow the bark pops off easily.It's the back of the bow there.No rings to chase.
I don't want to hijack the conversation but when you say the sap is beginning to flow would that mean around sugaring time for maple trees? So if I am collecting sap for maple syrup I can also cut and peel bow wood from HHB or elm?
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Elm,ironwood,and hickory are top notch bow woods for me here.In fact if these white woods are harvested in the spring with the sap beginning to flow the bark pops off easily.It's the back of the bow there.No rings to chase.
I don't want to hijack the conversation but when you say the sap is beginning to flow would that mean around sugaring time for maple trees? So if I am collecting sap for maple syrup I can also cut and peel bow wood from HHB or elm?
Most likely or soon after. Try one and see. You’ll know pretty quick if the bark is going to slip.
I’ve never actually harvested one at that time. I usually did around mid may.
I have done winter harvested with a power washer and it worked really good. Left a perfect back.
Bjrogg
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Not only have prices gone up but the quality is down and 'shipping prices' are a total joke.....
Hamish - I was charging around £400 for an osage bow but now realistically it would need to be close to £550 for a 'profit'. The thing is though there are very few customers who want to pay a realistic price.....
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Elm,ironwood,and hickory are top notch bow woods for me here.In fact if these white woods are harvested in the spring with the sap beginning to flow the bark pops off easily.It's the back of the bow there.No rings to chase.
I don't want to hijack the conversation but when you say the sap is beginning to flow would that mean around sugaring time for maple trees? So if I am collecting sap for maple syrup I can also cut and peel bow wood from HHB or elm?
When you are collecting sap from Maple trees, it is still too early to harvest HHB or elm if you want the bark to slip. I would say wait until leaves just start to bud out. That is my experience in Minnesota anyway.
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I agree.I usually will harvest a log of hickory just when the leaves are beginning to show on the tree.
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Better to harvest good white wood than bad Osage. Been their done that. Some of my favorite bows are made from Black locust,elm, white oak, hickory ,blue beech etc..and many of which will rival the few good Osage bows that I own in over all performance. Since Osage is the king of self bow woods, and pristine wood is hard to come by I can understand why it costs what it does for a good stave.
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the whitewood bows can indeed be excellent but osage has that extra 'toughness' and 'elasticity' that means it just goes on and on and on....which when you are making bows for other people is worth a whole lot :)
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True, and the cost can be absorbed by the customer. I always wondered why longitudinal cracking occurs from out of no were some times, and is it the nature of the wood , or makers error.
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This is all true about osage as I can attest to it first hand here.Locals here have used it for fence posts for decades and decades.Their still as good as ever keeping the cattle in.
I can also attest to some of my favorite whitewood bows still as good as ever well over a decade too.
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Shooting a bow tillered by yourself for yourself is a whole different thing to making one and then saying goodbye to it....you have no idea how it is going to be treated.
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We're talking about normal use and durability between a whitewood and an osage.You are'nt exclusive here,and I do understand your point too.I've sold many a bow too Mike as have many others.
Having an understanding with the customer is a businessmans' responsibility.
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I’ve had very little time or experience with white woods. However I do have a lot of experience with Osage. It works for me and I still have access to the wood. I try not to fix what ain’t broke.
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Nothing is broke Arvin.Making bows from whitewoods has taught me a lot about tillering as many are a lot more sensitive.Depending on how stressful the design is.I have osage around me here too.
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most of my experience is with osage,, so its preferred,, not doubt other woods are great,,I just make a few bows,, used to cut my own,,love hate for that,,
I would buy a green stave if needed,, I know how to cure one,,
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Mar st. Louis makes some excellent bows from white woods. Elm comes to mind, and he sales them.
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Yes I’ve seen some good white wood bows. And Chuck has success in flight with it also. They all have there place. Different climate different bow wood.
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I mostly made osage recurve bows when I first started building selfbows. I didn’t know how good a hickory bow could be until BowEd sent me a pattern for his reflex form and gave me advice on how to tiller the bow. Since then I’ve made several white wood bows that are comparable to my Osage bows in speed. I’ve been making more white wood bows recently and am enjoying the results.