Little somethin for the selfbow guys! (PICS)

[kennym]

I got a little grief    :p     for having osage cut into boards(not just at TG),so heres a little somethin for you selfbow folks!!

   

   

   

Now,need some advice on splittin these,how do you like to do the first split? With the curve?

How wide on the bark side?        

I'll probably take these to Mojam,after splittin,cause I haven't been bitten by the selfbow bug!!(yet)    

[Leo L.]

Can I have one?

[Osagetree]

Kennym,

Here's ya a short pictoral, the bark side should be approx. 3"
 
 
 
 

[Eric Krewson]

The picture of the log end shows it not to be good selfbow material in my opinion. I use the tight ring stuff like that for BBOs.

[Shakes.602]

WOW!!  Mr. Krewson, ya got better eyes than Me!!          

[NorthShoreLB]

Not an Osage expert, But Eric's thought was my first impression to

[Walt Francis]

I agree with Eric, but I end up making most of my bows from that type of wood anyway.  Lack of availability you know…     I will be looking for some good stuff at MoJam this year so everybody who's going and has it, bring lots of that yeller wood.

[Forester]

Sorry Kenny, but you might want to saw those into boards    

[kennym]

I kinda thought that myself,glad you guys spoke up! Dang tough crowd tho!! LOL  :D

[wingnut]

Yep that one will make good slats.  How do the others look?

Mike

[hickstick]

Eric...not to question your judgment as you've made FAR more selfbows than me (haven't made a non backed bow in probably 5 years or more).  

isn't having tight rings BETTER for selfbows?  ie...more homogenous structure of early and latewood???

[Dean Marlow]

Kenny kind of tough to see how wide the rings are going to be on an Osage log before you cut it. By then it is to late. What you see is what you get.After cutting and splitting several Osage in my life this is my opinion on tight ringed Osage. It is the second best selfbow wood. Wide ringed Osage is the best. That log will make fine selfbows in my opinion. Dean

[kennym]

A couple more are bout like that,rest are bigger rings. Oh yeah my post guy brought me 4 more,benefit of havin a friend who cuts hedge posts,he keeps an eye out for strait ones for me!!!! So I got a lot of work to do!!

The sap started up,last 4 were cut today and leakin out the ends,so I told im I had enuff osage for this spring!

[Linc]

Those rings look good to me.They just require more patients chasing a ring.They all make good bows.  

[buckshot95]

Sweet looks good. i just got done a ash bow yesterday. shoots great!

[James Wrenn]

Well cut into lumber I could be a bow from those.Left like that all I could make would be firewood.  :D  The only way I think I could build a good selfbow is find a flat,square tree one day.  

[Eric Krewson]

I went out to the shop and took a picture of some osage examples. On the large piece there are 20 growth rings on that blurred area at the top, impossible to chase one ring and almost like the log in the picture. The rest of that slice is OK but I really like a little narrower dark rings. Extra wider rings have made bows with mushy cast for me.

Of the two other samples I would pick the one on the left to make a rocket launcher. The one on the right made a good bow but I have found the narrower and crisper the light rings, the better the osage will perform in a bow.

One thing to remember for you guys who have just started working with osage is the light rings are chalky, honey combed and lack power fibers so you want them to occupy the least amount of area in your stave.

 

[John Scifres]

I will agree with the comments on the piece kenny posted.  More important than the width of the rings is the ratio of latewood to early wood; or darkwood to lightwood.  That's what indicates density and strength.  I like at least a 2:1 ration.  4:1 is better.  

Another factor is where the stave came from relative to the circumference of the tree.  A tree that leans will form thick rings on the "downhill side" and thin rings on the "uphill" side.  The uphill side is better bow wood provided it has a ratio of 2:1 or better and the rings aren't so thin that you can't chase them.  Anything less than 1/32" is a beeotch.

The rings in the center of a log are almost always thick, witness the center piece in Eric's post.  They very often are the best bow wood.  Young and spry but the diameter complicates things when you want to make a flatbow.  Plus pins are more common and cause relatively bigger problems.

You can make selfbows from osage that isn't premium.  Just make them wider and longer.  Use a whitewood design and you will still make a better bow than you would with whitewood  

Dean Torges has some great info in the articles section of his website, particularly on reaction wood:   www.bowyersedge.com

[George Tsoukalas]

Wow those are really narrow rings. I'm helping a friend with an osage stave. We had us a time chasing rings that were 1/16 thick. Good luck with that. The other is option besides board is do your best and back with sinew or rawhide but that's a lot of backings. Jawge

[Pat B]

If I had access to a bunch of osage I might be picky too but I don't. I have made very good self bows with osage with thin rings, thick rings, bad early/late ring ratios and with sapwood backs and 50/50 sapwood/heartwood. With thin ringed osage if I can't chase a ring cleanly I back it with raw hide, linen or silk. I prefer self bows to wood or boo backed bows anyway.       Pat