ok killed a big bird now what....well i got the go ahead to go and cut whatever osage down that i want off of my girlfriends farm..so far i found about 30 0r 40 big trees....is it ok to cut them now or do i need to wait and once i have them down do i need to paint the ends so moisture wont come out......in other words HELP...want to make a self bow so bad i need help.....and i dont know what im doing,got a chainsaw,bandsaw,and a drawknife.now what.....is there a good book i can get i have a couple but i need layman terms
-- Edited by stevewills on Friday 7th of May 2010 08:42:45 PM
lean in close to the tree, look up at the bark, and try to find one that the bark/grain doesn't twist around the tree too bad. Cut it longer than the stave you plan to use. Split it. and then coat the ends with white glue, or something so it doesn't split too bad. Leave the bark on. Put the staves up in your garage rafters or someplace like that, and forget them for at least 6 months. Dennis or Tim can tell you a lot more about it than I.
To start with try to find a couple trees about 10" in dia. This is a good size to work with. You need sections about 7 feet long for one piece bows. If there are any sections that are 3 foot long they can be used for spliced bows. Try to find trees that the bark don't spiral on, nice and straight if possible, no limbs, scars, or cat faces. Find a couple good friends, and size matters, guys like Bubba, and Milkman, and go cut down your tree. Take a sledge and at least a couple wedges and split it in half. If it's a 8-12" tree, split the halves into quarters. Seal the ends, and a little way down the stave with a good sealant. Elmers glue works good, and shellack is the old standard. I like my fresh staves to dry slow the first month or so. Keep them under cover but not really in a hot attic quite yet.
That will get you started. Next to find out about everything else, go to Morgantown bow jam. That's a good next step for you to take. Pick up a dry stave up there from someone and learn the fine art of drawknifing
well milk and dave are coming up here and we are going to cut them then...so i need to wait that long for them to dry...crap i need to go and find a good carp spot or some thing..i moved up here dont know anyone really and am bored...everytime i take my nitro cars out it cost me a fortune to fix some i smahed in the burms or over a triple...oh well....when is that bow jam
-- Edited by stevewills on Saturday 8th of May 2010 11:48:53 AM
Steve you will find in doing research into bow making, different people will tell you that you have to do this and you have to do that. I don't follow many rules. However there are some absolutes in bow crafting. You have to have compleatly dry wood to tiller, and you have to be patient.
Oh and the bigger the helpers, the easier it is to haul Sage out of the creek bottom
Get Torges' book "Hunting the Osage Bow ". Very helpful and a good read. That man can write.
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
ya i got 7 big friends there names are masey furgesons,,,,there like 70 yds.from our barn all ill have to do is move a few cows out of our way....how much would you wonderfull gentleman charge me for a dry stave....ill bring you a wet one too...
The Bowyers Bible series are good books to read. Or the bent stick by Paul Comstock. Tim Ham,Jay Masey, they have good books on the subject also. Polyurathane makes a good sealant for the ends and if youwant to debark a stave the urathane will will do a good job on that as well. I had a stave I debarked, painted the ends and back and kept it for 8-10 years and it had no checks or splits on it. Just put it on fairly heavy. If I have anymore dry staves I will bring it to the two day.
ya im not gonna be able to make both days just sunday..went out to look at the trees theres more like 300 of them right by the house,so far i have only found one real straight one..its like 9 foot before a limb and its 14 inches wide at the base..its large...now what about honey locust,i think i read you make a self bow out of that ,maybe im not sure,but found a few of those too...help
If you have access to that much hedge, stick with hedge. Black locust will work OK but has the be made flat in the belly or it will fret. I'll take the worse piece of hedge over the best piece of locust.
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
got 5 chainsaws and 2 brother inlaws and milk and dave coming up here i should be ok...i mean these woods have never been logged,im screwed when squirrel season comes in dont know if my widow will shoot that high..lol,you name a wood its there for the taking,,,told me to take whatever i want,there is also a nice size hickory too...think i might save that for the smoker,or will it make a good one too..i dont know what i wanna do definitly need to get some down so i can hurry up to wait..ill buy a stave so i can get my feet wet so to speak...i always wanted to build one and there is no better time than now too start....
Another one starts the journey
