First try at an osage selfbow

[red hill]

Here's my first attempt at an osage selfbow.  


 

 

My father-in-law cut an osage tree for me. It yielded 5 staves. One may give two bows if I'm careful.
The stave I chose to start with had several knots and pins. After searching for and reading everything I could find on The Bowyers Bench I successfully chased my first ring.

 

 

These are the main attractions on this stave. Hope I can deal with'em.

I skipped taking a few pics so some of the process is lost.  Anyway, the stave had a little twist on the lower limb. That limb also has a nice bit of reflex.

 

I've worked the limbs down to the tillering process after attempting to heat-treat reflex into the top limb. The limbs are very close on the reflex now, but the lower limb is still twisted.

Upper limb:
 

[red hill]

OOps! Didn't mean to post so soon, or such large pics.

Here's the lower limb:

 

The lower limb appears as if it is developing a hinge but I think is is because of the twist and a wave in the grain at that point below the handle.

Drawn on long string to 14 inches.

 

Here she is at low brace. you can see the lower limb on the right with the two knots.  The upper limb has only one knot.

 

What do you think, folks?  Any and all suggestions, critiques, and comments are welcomed and appreciated.
  :confused:  
Stan

[2treks]

Looks like you are doing fine Stan. Becareful with the snakey/twisty limbs,they can trick ya, but your low brace pic looks pretty good. I would try to stay away from the thin/knot area of the lower limb where that dark spot is in the close up. A little heat gun action on the caul will help get that twis under control.Maybe use a bit of olive oil/crisco to sink the heat in.
Good job
Chuck

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Yep, I agree with 2 tracks your doing fine. Heat gun for the twist and keep taking it down even just like your doing.

[Mark Smeltzer]

Good advise above, the only thing I would add is the outer 1/3 of the limbs may be a little stiff and a rope and pulley system on the tiller tree is a much better system in my opinion. I always have my scale on the pulley string to ensure I don't pull over my intended weight and only pull far enough to see where you need to remove wood. That way your draw length, weight and tiller come together all at the same time
Overall I think it looks good.

Mark

[okie64]

Lookin Good. Nice character knots.

[red hill]

Thanks, guys. Mark, I have the pulley on the tiller rig, but no scale. I use the peg for taking pics.
Stan

[Randy]

One other hint that I got from an experienced bowyer and use on my bows is. After checking the tiller on the tree from one side, I swap ends and pull the bow the same amount on the tree. It gives me a different look and I can see how both sides of the limb are performing. It show where the twist is at or if I have one side of the limb thicker than the other. Your bow looks great.  Randy

[red hill]

Thanks, Randy. Never thought of that. Seems like a great idea. I'll try it tomorrow.
Stan

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Red a little natural twist is fine to leave in the bow. Makes it a little tricky to tiller but I seen you got a gizmo so you should be good. Just take her slow and easy.

 Looks like it's gonna be a beauty for sure.

 Stiks

[KellyG]

nice haul and good luck.

[Pat B]

Red, you can see where to remove wood to correct a twist by using the gizmo on both sides of the belly instead of just down the middle.

[dixiearcher]

Awesome looking bow Coach!!

[red hill]

Thanks, Adam! Glad to hear from you on here, finally.
PatB, I found out what you just hinted at over the weekend. By running the gizmo back and forth working across the width of the belly I found that I can actually "shade" the entire portion that needs to be removed.
Kelly, that was one trunk from a moderate tree. The guy who owns the pasture said I could have more. Guess what my summer plans are?
Thanks for the help and encouragement guys.  
Stan

[okie64]

Hey Stan what part of Arkansas you from? My uncle has some land around Fayetteville that has some nice osage trees on it.

[red hill]

Okie, I live outside of El Dorado...Southern end of the state.  My father-in-law lives in Yell County, not too far from Russellville.

[okie64]

Oh well, I thought you might be closer and we could get together and cut some osage.