Little somethin for the selfbow guys! (PICS)

[Eric Krewson]

I cut every osage stave I have in front of a bulldozer. I have the good, bad and the ugly, don't throw anything away unless it is beyond hope. I am a master with a heat gun though and can turn stuff others wouldn't fool with into pretty nice staves. It is not unusual for me to heat and correct one stave a dozen or more times to get it just right.

[Walt Francis]

Like Eric, I have gotten extremely good with a heat gun (thanks to Gary Davis and MoJam) and been able to do wonders with some of the wood I have.  The things that have stretched my limited supply are a good band saw and jointer.  The bandsaw lets me get more bows out of each log or stave by cutting them into thin pieces, after chasing a growth ring and then laminating/gluing a handle on.  It also allows, when used with the jointer, me to easily flatten short billets and pieces, finger joint them together, and then laminated/glue a handle on.  The method I use for most of these “junk wood” bows, as I have come to call them, is shown in detail in Dean Torges video, Hunting the Bamboo Backed bow, which I highly recommend to all wood bowyers.  The main difference between my method and his is if I have them to a single growth ring I don’t always back them.