proposed dimensions for osage flatbow with sinew backing

[Brent Hill]

I've been looking for proposed dimensions for my stave (not alot out there) and just ordered Dean Torge's book on hunting with osage bow, so this miss change but I penciled out the following on my stave and want some input.  60 inch tip to tip and handle 4 inches with 2 inches on each fade out,  Each limb will be 26 inches long with solid nonbending rounded tips 6inches long and 5/8's wide for the entire 6 inch tip section.  The remaining limb ,20 inches, will be 1 1/2 wide from fadeout to the first 5 inches and the gradually go reduced from there to 1 1/4 at 10 inches from fadeout, 1 inch wide at 15 inches from fade out down to 5/8 at the beginning of the stiff 6 inch tip portion.  I plan on the reduced portion of the working limb to be flat and will be sinewing the back.  With the proposed shape, many of the questionable spots on the stave were either avoided or I just left more wood around the knots which looks kinda cool.  I know the I've picked alot of brains but I appreciate the help.  Brent Hill

[Brent Hill]

I also forgot that I have no idea about how thick I should carve the limbs down to from the back to belly get them to floor tiller on the working portion and the stiff section.  The stave is only 4 months old and I don't want to even start tillering until maybe october or later but I want to do some carving to get them close to that point.  The entire limb is 3/4 inch back to belly.  Thanks, Bhill

[macbow]

Once you rad Dean's book you might want to look into a heat box to speed things up. I'd say 3/4 inch thick is pretty good for now. Be sure to coat the back and ends with shellac or something so the moisture will go out the belly side.

Ron

[Pat B]

Brent, What is your draw length? For sinew to perform you need a shortish bow. 60" would be the max length to get all the goody out of a sinew backed osage bow for a 28" draw. Jay Massey made sinew backed osage bows as short as 54" for his 28" draw.

[walkabout]

sounds kinda like a holmegard design. sorry i couldnt help on the other post. but i did some searching and found a few things. heres a link to a holmegaard someone built one here.  http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=002204#000000    and heres a link to TBB vol 2. it doesnt have all the pages but it might give you some help  http://books.google.com/books?id=D9yQiKTtprAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+traditional+bowyer%27s+bible&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false   The holmegaard design has thinner nonworking tips too i believe, although their length is usually quite long. hope this helps.

[Brent Hill]

Walk about, I thinks thats the design but I'm shortening the static tips to hopefully get the benefit of the sinew and my tips aren't as thin as the example from side to side.  That is a beatiful bow.  Thank you for finding that.  My draw length is about 27 1/2 and I thought about going to 58 but I still want it to be a more stable bow so any shorter thn 58 worries me a bit.  I've seen alot of the owl bows at 57 / 58 inches so maybe I should go to 58 inches.  If I got 58 inches, should I shorten the length of the static or rigid tips from 6 to 4 inches or keep the limb tips at a rigid and thin 6 inches and shorten the wider working portion of the limb from 20 inches to 18 inches.  I hope I'm making sense.  Thanks for the help.

[walkabout]

from what i read of owl bows he makes his hunting bow, which he says is the most stable and durable, 58 inches. if youre testing new waters id say go with 58 inches just to be safe. if it turns out good you can always make another one shorter in the future with all the things you learn while making this one.as far as the working limb and then the rigid tips, you still probably want your working section to be a decent width, so as to keep the stresses spread out a bit over them. no need to make them thin if youre unsure. the static tips are really your choice, but i wouldnt thin the working limb if you shorten the tips. on my bows i keep about 5 inches of my tips thicker so i can thin them later to reduce handshock if it has any, and so i can move nock points if needed. personally id go for 58, leaving the 6 inches of stiff tip. it will give you some more forgiveness in the end, and if you decide later you dont need it all you can always pike it down to 4 inches.make yourself one of the tillering blocks with a pencil and go slowly if the design is unfirmiliar to you, ive found on my recent bow that testing new waters is just that, and this bow has been on the tillering tree for the better part of 4 days to make sure im not being overzealous.

[Brent Hill]

Thanks for your help.  I'm going to do 58 like you said. I was thinking I would keep the tips at 6 and stiff and try to thin em down to reduce actual mass but keepem static but If I reduced the tips too much to where they bend, I could then shorten the tips to 5 or 4 inches to get them rigid again.  Appreciate your help, Bhill

[walkabout]

no problem. as ong as you keep the taper relativly smooth you shouldnt have much trouble, i usually just set a mark where im tapering from then taper straight to my finished tip width, and while im roughing it out i stay outside my lines just a little to allow for rounding the edges and finishing. i also work mid limb and toward the tips mostly during long string, just to get initial bend and straight tiller, then work the area closer to fades more once i get it braced. it seems to help me get the whole limb working without me taking off too much. also youll want to remember not to work the ends of your working limb too much during long string because theyll bend more when you do brace it.

[Silent Bear]

for a 60 inch bow sinew is not needed, I would shorten considerably if you want the sinew to perform

[Brent Hill]

58 inches with 6  inch tips.  Thank you for the help !!!

[John Scifres]

I would not hesitate to put sinew on most bows shorter than 60".  It isn't required but, if applied properly, it will help.  Stop the sinew where the limbs stop bending.  6" stiff tips with NO sinew on them will help for sure.

[Brent Hill]

That makes perfect sense to stop there.  Thanks, I planned to only do one layer on the tips because they were stiff but I'm rethinking that.