In a hurry!

[TroutGuide]

Well it looks like my osage blanks are not going to turn out due to low quality wood and me.  So I am in a hurry to make a bow for this fall.  I could cut more osage but it would never dry in time, I could cut sometning else and force dry it, or I can make a lam bow of some sort.  I am thinking the lam bow at this point is the best idea but I would prefer a self bow if it is still possible, short of ordering a blank which I would rather not due for numerous reasons.  Any thoughts or ideas?

Just so you know my osage came from a tree with borer damage and what I salvaged has what I would call bruising and cracks in areas that were internal and could not be seen. I waited 6 months to find this out. So frustrating!!  I am going to back it with fabric and make low draw kids/practice bows  but I need a hunting bow this fall.

[adam]

I think if it was me and i didnt want to order a blank and still stick with some sort of self bow i would probably look at 4est trekker's build-a-long and build some sort of board bow. Espically if you are in a hurry. You can buy a hickory or oak board from the hardware store for less than 20 bucks and be shooting it the next day. Like he said in his build-a-long: it isn't the prettiest bow or the fastest but dead is dead. I'm actually working on a couple of these now. Here is the link in case you haven't seen it.

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000122;p=1

[Badwithabow]

hmmmmmm I'm no expert but i went the build your own laminate bow route and I can say this do what YOU want to do. Even to make a laminate bow there is a lot of time and effort to get it all right...

If you want a self bow I'd say get a stave from someone on here there are alot of good guys to get one from on this board... I'd say getcha one and get to whittl'n make what you want brother you'll enjoy the labor more that way lol...

But if you want to make a lam bow we'll all help ya out there too....
Brandon

[Goose Gossett]

I know that I have made a board bow from Red Oak in a total of 5 hours and that was including the finish.  I also know of folks who have broke a bow hunting in the morning and were shooting a bow from a stave in the afternoon hunt.  Granted a few bows under the belt helps a bit but I would second badwithabow... do what YOU want to do.  You can't go wrong.

[Shaun]

You can salvage down and dead osage wood from logs laying on the ground. You will have to hog off the remnants of the sap wood and down a few rings into the heart wood to find clean rings. This wood is often very stable and nearly dry right out of the log. It is a lot of draw knife work to dig it out but it is great stuff. If you can't find a 6 foot straight log, look for 40" billets and join in the handle.

[RingChaser]

I hate to hear that Troutguide. I'll second the board bow idea from above. I just finished up a red oak board bow and it came out great. First try with a board. It shoots hard and straight, and so far, it has about 200 shots through it. Give it a try and maybe you can shoot it enough and get used to it before hunting season.

[George Tsoukalas]

Board bows are fun to make. Just choose straight grained stock. I make bend in the handle bows with no glued on pieces. 1 3/8 in wide will get 45-50 and 1.5 in wide will yield 50-55 # provided you choose the right board and tiller well. Info on my site.  Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[TroutGuide]

I guess I need to go board shopping.  I will also look around a couple areas for dead osage.  I always figuerd it would be bug eaten, if not it will be dry for sure, 108 and no rain for weeks.

[TroutGuide]

RingChaser, I will have a bow to hunt with one way or another.  I have a recurve that I used last season and will still use this year if this bulding thing does not work out but I will at least break a few things between now and Mac trying to get something new to hunt with.  Glad to hear your board bow turned out.  Make sure to bring all your work to show off.  I can bring some splinters to sacrifice in the big fire pit. It might help the bow gods smile on me a little more.

[RingChaser]

We'll be bringing some splinters too.....the board bow my son was working on gave way the other day after seven shots through it. It just wasn't a good enough board for a bow. Too much early wood I think. I ended up giving him the other red oak bow for a backup at Mac.
I am working on a Osage stave right now, and I hope I can get this one better than my first one. My first Osage was from a piece of wood like you described above. I had to go down a bunch of rings to get out of the bug damage. Even then I had to go really narrow to avoid the deep radial cracks that were running off to the sides. It ended up around 40-45#'s with a couple of radial cracks down the back. A nice bow in the end, but I would like to get a little more #'s out of this next one.