I think a wide limbed osage is possible, if it is short enough. Two things have to be saved, the mass and the length of the lever. Saving mass can be achieved by narrowing the outers and short leverage of course by short limbs. So let’s see … I had a nice clean and moreRead more
string groove
I have made in the last time same short, wide limbed osage bows and I must say I like them a lot. It was a nice and clean stave, thick enough to get also a belly split – here is the back split. Some adjustments were necessary also some reflex was induced. Fade is 6”Read more
This stick is fumed for 6 days before tillering on the belly, so finally I’ve got a rich colored surface. It is a more flat limbed long faded design, I call it willow leaf (see front sight). In cross section it has a mild concave belly, but is no HLD in origin sense. I hadRead more
Deflexed at handle and long slender hooks with self nocks. The cutting through the back is possible with an additional ring here. I have no access to snake skins or other fancy stuff but I have fish skins brought from a friend from a fishing trip in Denmark. The fish is atlantic cod, it wasRead more
This is a very low dense yew, only 6 or 7 rings per inch, grown in my homeland (elevation 365m). Not good for ELBs, so I decided to go for a flattie with statics. The stave was deflex above handle, so I heated in the same amount on the lower fade. On the back areRead more
This is a static with short narrow levers and a front profile I like very much. It’s a slightly bendy handle; grip is buckskin wrap in two layers to get the bulbous shape; tips are buffalo The bow is 60” long.Read more
This bow came from a narrow osage stave with every sort of imperfection, see the making of here! Tiller looks perhaps a bit ugly, I had to leave some spots more or less stiff (knotholes). The levers got a filed in string groove and a natural overlay (additional ring) for string nock on the back.Read more
A stave with every sort of imperfections in the beginning …. – twisted 90° – pronounced dogleg 30° – abrupt reflex on the other limb 20° – side kinks – holes – a kinda waist (from a big branch) at the bending part of one limb that thing is 71“ long. My first thought wasRead more
This was a very narrow and thin stave from a wonderful colored dark osage. What you see is a fresh worked osage, it looks like already years old. The stave was clean free of knots, but heavily twisted and has a curve in the outer upper limb. Curios are the extreme thin early wood partsRead more
You can find the making of this bow here! The next steps: The whole thing turned out a bit short with the stiff handle, I tried to lengthen the bow with the backing and additional underlay. Both, the backing and the underlays were steam bent, they should work as stiff levers of a mild static.Read more