Osage stave questions?

[TroutGuide]

So I have a osage stave from a small tree that I am hoping to get a good bow out of whatever the weight/size.  I have tried to get the most out of the wood but what I have after dealing with everything in the piece is a stave that is almost strait grained with a slight snake in the last 8".  It is a very consistent rectangle 1 1/8" wide(slight crown on back), just over 1/2" thick and 60 1/2" long.  It has a few small pin knots here and there, but otherwise is very strait grained with just a little twist and a good bit of natural reflex.  I plan on making a bend in the handle bow due to the fact that the small tree left me with no wood for a stiff handle.  I would love to get 45 or more pounds @28".  So what do you think, what can I realisticly shoot for and what do I do next?

Thanks for your input!

[Steve B.]

I would do what you are intending.  Next I would post pics here of all sides and make sure the pics show the knots.

[John Scifres]

The bow in this pic was made for the Ambush Bow Contest that was dreamed up by Dean Torges and  Hosted by "The Bowyer's Journal" magazine.  

It is an osage selfbow, 1-1/16" wide for the middle third of the bow tapering to 3/8" wide, 58" NTN, and pulls 60# at 28".  It is 1/2" thick at the thickest part.  It bends in the handle and has very circular tiller.  

The tips are slightly recurved and very narrow for the last 6", a semi-Holmegard design as Dean called it.

 

[TroutGuide]

Thanks John.  That gives me hope.  I have broken three staves(one hickory,two osage) so far so I realy want this to work. I cut this tree while hunting last fall and the staves have been sitting under the bed since then. I think I will shoot for 50@28 just to be safe and I may back with rawhide for insurance.  If I were to back when should I do it?  I assume after shaping the back profiile but before tillering, right?

[John Scifres]

Unless you have a reason to believe that you will lift a splinter, I wouldn't back it all with rawhide.  If you are going to back with rawhide, do it after floor tiller.  You can induce some reflex and then glue it up and maximize performance.

If you want to back for even more performance, use sinew.  That would be a killer bow.

[TroutGuide]

I don't see a reason I might lift a splinter but after geting three bows to 24+ inches and having them blow, I am leary.  Just thinking insurance I guess.  I have no sinew so that is not an option.  I may save some this season and try it on another bow this winter.  For now I just want a bow to hunt with if possible.  So did you leave the tips alone until you were almost finished and then shape or was that one of the first things you did? I like the idea, but i'm not sure if I should try anything fancy just yet.

[John Scifres]

Yea, I'd stay basic.  I recurved it after I had it tillered, more as an experiment than anything.

[George Tsoukalas]

Sounds like you have it covered.  You don't need a whole lot of wood to get a bow from osage. I once made one that was 1 inch wide, had 3 in of reflex and pulled 49#. I made it from an osage sucker. It had a sapwood back and sapwood and heartwood on the belly. If you don't have enough heartwood on that stave for a bow you can leave sapwood on the back. It's good policy to get as close to the heartwood as possible though. Sapwood is stronger then. Jawge

[TroutGuide]

It is all heartwood with a nice thick ring on the back so I feel good. The pin knots make me nervous but I think they are okay.

Thanks keep it comming.