I hear often that osage can be tricky to work with compared to white woods. I am 80% through tillering an R/D HBO and absolutely love the stuff! I dont see me working on any adult bows not made from osage from here on out. Granted its not from stave and perhaps thats the hard part about osage? I love how easily it is scraped, and how uniform it remains. This is my first osage experince and I was hooked from "go". Adios' white wood cores! Here it is at full draw and fully tillered, I apologize for the crooked pics, makes it look bad. Its 62" ntn, 58# @ 28, should shoot in right were I want it for my 29" draw. Thanks for peeking (http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m518/chrislovesjean/000_0120.jpg?t=1298148401) (http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m518/chrislovesjean/000_0119.jpg?t=1298148401)
Glad you like it, and yes it is all that and then some. Sometimes it's like sculpting with butter, other pieces can fight you every step of the way. :thumbsup:
I should mention this osage board was 1/4 sawn perfectly, maybe that makes it nicer to work with?
Chris - why don't you post up a complete build along using the osage boards you were able to find? I for one would really like to do a d/r longbow from osage boards and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.
The problem is this is a "build as I go along" Rob! I have made a few other so-so white wood r/d's that shoot super, but way under target weight. I will just say this, I have one heck of a pile of splintered wood going in my shop right now! The first few breaks about killed me! Then I took a breath and learned from them, plus I have a secret weapon in S.W. PA (Cant give names out....Roy) that has helped me A TON! Rob I will send you a PM with the basics that I know as of now. Im still learning alot as I go.
Thanks for the info Chris....anxious to see how this one comes along.
Thanks for adding the pics......really nice tiller. Can't wait to try this myself....can't wait to see pics when you get the handle/shelf done. Closeups of that work?
Not bad for a drummer boy from Michigan:)
Thats becauase an old man from SW PA helped me through it! The last 6" of my tips are a touch light, hopefully sanding will take care of that and blend it all together.
I love that one good job!
Looks ok Chris, but ya the tips look a tad light. I didn't teach ya that:)
Ray I don't see it you got to use them crayons I tell ya.
Looks good pearl
nice! good to see them boards get used
Thanks Sadie, now be sure to post pics of your success with those broad heads this fall!
looks good
I like it too!! Pearl drums.
Where did you get your osage?
PD thats lookin good can't what for the final pics.
There wont be final pics Dave, she is in the wood pile. I had one limb tip SLIGHTY thin (you can see it in the pics) and after shooting several dozen arrows it just kept slowly giving way so I unstrung it before it broke and started another! It was good while it lasted. These R/D bows will stretch your patience to the bitter end as far as tillering is concerned. I never appreciated straight profiles as much as I do now.
Dang..sorry bout that. Better luck with the next.
Ah quit yer cryen and pay closer attention on the next bow boy:) Ya kids never listen to us old men, never:) Make it look like this one, ya see how flat the limb tips are son?
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f165/ROY-CHRIS/IMG_6317.jpg)
When the heck ya gonna call me Chris?
Roy,
That's a beautiful Tiller.
Looks like you need to put a gizmo check on that right limb, looks like a stiff spot midlimb in for about 8" and a hingy spot 6" in from the tip.
Could just be the picture as they distort things.
The first R/D I built I didnt get the tips moving first and ruined the bow, this one I over did it on the tips first and never caught up. Lessons learned! I have another getting ready for glue......Roy Boy paid good money to have a guy come over and tiller that bow for him.......
Good tiller eye Eric, Pearl Drums, one of the first mistakes in someone tillering a R/D for the first time is... a perfect example of yours :) leave them tips alone until the last bit of tillering
Since I've never made one from a board before, please fill me in a bit on how you go about it. I assume that your not chasing a ring on a board bow? That's why some of them are backed I assume?
Then my next question would be how do you keep from getting a splinter on the edge of your limb if there's no ring to chase? Or is the grain running verticle on a board rather than horizontal like it would on a stave ring?
Did any of that make sense.
No ring chasing at all, just a belly taper. This was actually 1/4 sawn chunk of gold I screwed up. I have never had a splinter on any board bows I have made or broke. I sand the edges after every scraping session and I back every bow I attempt to build. To be honest SEMO, Im inches from quitting the board/backed business and just try building good ol fashioned stave bows. I never have. Im growing tired of poor glue lines, oodles of clamps, glued joints popping free and all the other head aches that come with laminated bows. I realize bows from stave have their own challenges as well. I have another set of osage slats Roy from PA graciously gave me to work on. I am going to give it my all and see what happens. If it fails Im buying a draw knife and a seasoned stave. I refuse to give up, just need to change directions. Glass bows just dont do much for me so I have to find an alternative.
I dunno Eric, I ran the gizmo along it at this draw lock down, had a nice gap along the entire limb. The hinge you may see looks to me like the node on the back of the bow distorting the looks. The camera is off to the left a bit. The bow is in the midwest now, so I can't work on her no mo..
Scott, the grain on that bow looks just perfect Dude.
That explains alot guys thanks for the info, and that's kinda what I was thinking but not sure.
Seeing the picture you posted Scott really cleared it up for me.
Pearl Drums- I think you would be good at working a stave, you already got the jist of what's going on with your tiller and shaping. I think it would be a simple transition and chasing a ring is no biggie after you've done it a time or two.....just time consuming sometimes. The biggest difference in working a stave is that no 2 are exactly alike, so each one has to be approached a little different. It's not a cookie cutter operation when your working with staves, but some guys know their way around a stave so well that they make it look easy......I'm not one of them. :knothead:
I say go for it! :thumbsup:
Well being the hard headed German I am I couldnt possibly toss this bow in the wood pile just because the tips were light. So I cut off each end and Im in the process of tillering it back to to weight. My goal is 50# @ 28", that may be pushing it for a rigid handle bow that is now 59" NTN. The 1/4 sawn core may be my savior. We shall see!
I hope your bow turns out great Pearl.
Really nice work! I hope to do an osage bow at some point.
Its a treat to scrape, sand and rasp. Nothing like hickory, oak or maple. Dont wait too long NYArrow!