It's Done!

Well, I did not know for sure whether I would actually get to this point. I finished my 50 hour project. 48" nock to nock. About 50 pounds @ 25". I'm thanking my Creator for allowing me to create this from start to finish. Also, don't forget the kind man who let me have a fresh green limb of his bodark tree.

My draw was a little high here, trying to rush to get it before the camera's self timer went off.

Hey don't feel like you gotta unsubscribe either, I have some other plans for projects I'll be posting here.

~ Zachary

Tilling Progress

After quite a long wait for some time, I've gotten started tillering the bow--that is--making the bow bend in an equal arc. It basically all boils down to this: take off wood where it isn't bending, and don't take off any where it already is. It's a lot harder than it looks. Right now I'm at 20" and it's very good weight-wise, but I want to get 24-28" draw which means I'll have to pull farther. That means the draw-weight will go up. Since it's pretty much already tillered, I need to take wood off slowly and evenly to slowly bring it down. Another couple days of good work and I should be done tillering. After that, I'll do the final touches and wrap the handle with leather. Next, I'll make some hand-forged steel broadhead arrows, most likely with an integral socket versus a tang.

A small, yet critical lifting of the back of the bow. This is pretty bad on most woods, but since Osage is so tough, superglue will prevent it from lifting any more and breaking the entire bow. No guarantees though! If I had sinew, I would use it.

Integral Socket is a socket that fits on the arrow and is glued in place.

This arrow has a tang on the end that is fit into a split arrow shaft and wrapped with sinew.

A good Osage Bow was Worth a Horse and a Blanket

In Arkansas, in the early 19th century, a good Osage bow was worth a horse and a blanket. - Wikipedia

Burning Osage Orange

A little video comparing burning osage wood versus a bit of white ash wood (I think). I love the orange flames, the smell of the smoke, and the crackling sounds... it just is soo relaxing.

Short-Bow Update

Half-way done chasing the ring on the bow.

Finally, I'm done chasing the ring on the back of the bow. It's taken me about 10 hours here and there. Those hours ticked by pretty quick though... I was really enjoying it. The color of the wood is amazing! As Osage Orange gets older, the wood deepens in color from yellow to a dark orange.

What's next for me to do? Well now I have to shape the bow. More than one person on some primitive forums said that mollegabet (the design I was going to use) was the last design they would use for a small bow (Mine's 50") I'm going to go with tapered sides. Probably 1.25" at the handle and .5" at the tips.

Splitting the Wood to Make Staves

My Dad and I got to working on splitting the log. It took longer than I had expected; nevertheless we got it split with some metal chisel/wedge spikes we found in the garage. The split wasn't very clean, in fact we cut through my sharpie-line marking the where the bow was going to be. Fortunately, I found a good spot to shape the bow on both halves. This way, if I mess up on one half, I'll have the other half to go back to.

One of the things I planned wrong, was splitting the log on a knot/cut-off branch. Knots are not very good when making bows, and by splitting through, we basically made both halves have the same problem...ugh.

I need a draw knife now to get the half down to the rough size and shape, so I've posted some 'wanted' ads on freecycle (they're expensive). I'm going to let the staves dry for a couple of weeks or more. Some people let theirs dry for a few years. To get around this some people use kiln-dried wood which can be bought at the hardware store. This stuff if brittle and will NOT make a bow. (I'll get into why not and my experience with it in another post)

I'm going to let mine dry for a couple weeks (or until I get my draw knife if that will be longer than a couple weeks) and then rough out the bow. After, if gets rather warm, I'll stick it up in the attic to dry quicker. (a month or so should do) If it doesn't get warm soon, I'll probably work it while it's still green. That way, if I want to add some re-curve to it, it'll be easier to bend with steam and heat. I haven't made up my mind exactly how the process will go, but I'll know later down the line.

Each stave is about 50" long, a little short, but that's okay for my first bow.  :)

Putting wood glue on the ends of the staves slows the drying process to prevent checking or splitting.

Kaya thinks we split it for her...