Board Osage at Woodcraft.

[razorsharptokill]

They have some 6' 8/4 Osage for $16.99 a BF. The rings are not distinct so I know it's no good for making a selfbow but wondered if I could resaw it and use in BBO longbows?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Sounds good to me Jim. If you back it it wont matter what the rings or grain are like.

[John Cooper]

Is it Argentinian Osage or American Osage?  I've heard that either work.

[Art B]

Hey Pearl, just because it's Osage doesn't make it suitable for some type of backing. Still some concerns to look for:

You don't want severe grain run-ups. Good early/latewood ratio. Light and dark patches are good indicators of soft/hard areas due to grain swirl. Common sometimes with boards cut from very large trees. Severe, uneven growth rings thickness. Indicators of tension/compression issues that can cause crooking or lateral movement. Not to mention, knots and such......Art

[razorsharptokill]

Should be around $75.00 for the board.

[NTD]

Originally posted by PEARL DRUMS:
Sounds good to me Jim. If you back it it wont matter what the rings or grain are like.

Wow...Simply NOT true.

Ah, I see that Art already covered that  

[PEARL DRUMS]

Oooops.......I did what I dont like seeing other do. Sorry for the fat mouth

[razorsharptokill]

The thin rings are barely discernable from the thick rings on some boards. Not sure if it is Argentine or not. I can get pics of the grain I guess.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Originally posted by razorsharptokill:
Should be around $75.00 for the board.

For that price you would be better off with a stave. I sell some larger ones that some guys get 2 bows out of and even a belly split stave bow from one I recently sold for much less than $16.99 pr/brd. ft.

If I leave the bark and sapwood on I can put one in your hands for less than $70 bucks.
The finished ones down to the first ring and almost a bow blank are the more expensive ones cause there's more work involved.
Larger staves cleaned of bark and sapwood and sealed run in the mid $70's range.

Sorry for jumping in with an ad, but just wanted you to know what kind of stave you can get for that kind of money and there's no guarantees on a board that it will be useable when you get it.
Unless of course you can hand pick your own?
Kinda like guys do when picking out a hardwood board at Lowes or Home Depot, places like that.

You could back an Osage board with boo and probably make a good bow out of it though? I have see several like that.

[razorsharptokill]

Thanks SEMO. This board is 8/4 so it's about 1.75 thick x 6" wide by 6' long. Several 6' lams in there.

[razorback]

At about $15 a bow plus backing it probably wouldn't hurt to give it a try. You could even do some experimenting with backing and design and see what you come up with.

[eagleone]

how ironic- i was just thinking about asking our local woodcraft if they could order some bigger osage boards, around here they just carry handle size pieces

[hova]

i would get ahold of semo or dvshunter , and get a stave over a board from a large company that i didnt inspect myself...

the stave i won from dvs would contain no less than 3 bows and copious amounts of scraps(gold) , and 50-75 is about what they normally run. if semo sold just belly splits or even "scrap" splits  , for say 20$ shipped , i would have plenty of osage for all the kids in the family. i need like 21 bows just for the under 10 age group...

sorry to ramble , i enjoyed some new snus tonight and im a little chatty...
-hov