Is it possible to make a self bow, possibly recurve, out of a fifty six inch piece of osage? I want it to draw twenty six inches. Would a paper bag backing help?

I think it would be possible i made a 60inch@ 27inc draw and it worked ok, it wasnt the most beautiful thing i had ever seen and had some string follow but shot nice.

Good luck.
Ben

26" no problem.  In my novice opinion that is.  You could make it a bend in the handle bow and if the whole thing was working, and desinged and tillered good, you could easily do it.  

From what I understand, you want enough limb working as twice your draw.  So for my 29" draw, I need 58" of working bow.  Throw in 4" of stiffness in handle, and 60-62" bend in the handle bow.  Or 58" of limb plus 4" of handle plus 4" of fades, and need 66" Nock to nock bow for a stiff handled bow.  Its working out for me.

56" end to end is 54" nock to nock.  Lots of stiff handled bows 60# @ 28" have been made 58" ntn or shorter.  Recurve is not necessarily desirable or a requirment.  But you do want to preserve string angle by having a little bit wider limb nearer handle and more bending than usual in that area, kinda like an sideway V versus a C.  And it is a challenge, but doable, and you need a pretty fair stave.

I've been working on a short osage bow lately, that is 50" ntn with a simi bendy handle. The bow stacks badly and I did have to recurve the tips a tad to preserve string angle like David said. I'll get some pictures up soon. This stave was only 52" long with a big knot in the middle, so I didn't have much choice.

Thanks guys never tried one this short so will be a challenge for sure!

few weeks ago i´ve built a black locust bow from a 60" stave. it pulls 50# @28". it has got no backing, and nearly no set (about 1/2 to 3/4"). the handle consists of the fades. so are there about only 5 unbending inch. if locust can do that, osage can handle easily.

I suggest a dean torges style bow. For a 26in draw you would only need a 52in nock to nock so 54 would be great. This style of bow has the advantages of a stiff handle bow with a limb length closer to that of a bend in the handle bow. If you want dimensions, explanations, etc pm me.

Thanks Jesse yeah where can I get dimensions?

An osage D bow would not be a problem with that length.

You could squeeze a stiff handled bow out of that length, but make sure your tillering is perfect. Osage could handle it, but you'd be pushing the edge going that route.  

Torges thoughts on the subject are definitely worthy of consideration. Check out "Hunting the Osage Bow".

  Thoughts on mine on selfbow length  

  Osage flatbow dimensions..  

hope that helps.

Very possible. Let it bend in the handle. You'd be better off with rawhide as a backing. Jawge

Lee I made the exact bow you described. 56", paper backing, Osage...4" handle 1.5" fades, 26" draw....tips slightly recurved...unfortunelty...no pics, I gave it to my Grandpa a while back.  Good Luck!!!

Totally so long as it is straight and knot free. i agree with a rawhid backing.. sinew if ya can swing it!

I've made a few short osage recurves. The one in my avatar is 60"t/t(58" or less n/n) and pulls 56#@26". The only backing on this bow is Western D-Back skin. With a good back ring, no other backing should be necessary.

Thanks guys I'll let you know how it turns out and if I can get ahold of a digital camera I will post pictures

56" long osage recurve, you can pull that back to 28".  I like to sinew the backs and make them really zippy.