Osage Flat Bow

P

Pyriel

Joined
May 17, 2007
Messages
36
All,

I just completed an Osage Flat Bow. This was my 4th attempt at making a long bow. My first 2 were attempts were hickory and my 3rd was an elm. Each of the 3 resulted in broken bows, but NO failures. I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn't give up. Even though my first 3 bows broke, I learned everything I needed to know to make my 4th.

This bow was made from an Osage stave that I harvested and dried with a friend. The stave was dried for a year, raising the stakes on getting this one right. It was definitely a long time to wait to make this bow.

As it stands the bow is 63'' long and pulls around 65-70lbs. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

AaronwithBow.jpg


The majority of the bow was carved using the O1 Woodsman made by NWA. The knife worked awesome for tillering the bow and for hacking away all the extra material. To my surprise, I never had to sharpen the knife during the whole process. I can't thank NWA enough for the quality of knife.

IMG_0862.jpg



AGM,

Aaron
 
very nice aaron... :thumbup:that came out great..... looks like a sweet shooter... 65-70 pounds wow....i have yet to make a decent shooting selfbow....:mad: it is a pain... one mistake and it's all over...:o

mike
 
Congratulations, Pyriel. Looks like you did a fine job. Osage is not the easiest choice for a fairly new bowmaker.

Doc
 
Great bow!!! Make sure you seal it with something so it doesn't twist on ya. Osage is my favorite wood.You should rehandle your knife with it.
 
Looks like a very nice job you've done. Osage is beautiful bow wood and makes for a good shooter. When you start to laminate your bows, try bamboo with the Osage. Great combination........
 
Very nice, I too failed with my first two bows. It takes time and effort, looks like you did great. My uncle has a few O.O staves I should give it a crack with that wood.
 
Nice work.:thumbup: I hope you're not obsessive-compulsive cause it sure can be addicting:D
 
Outstanding, Aaron!:thumbup: Osage is also one of my favorite woods for building self or backed flatbows. I will still break a bow here and there, even after building countless self, backed, flat, long, recurve, or laminated bows. Wasn't all that long ago that I broke a rawhide backed yew wood longbow in its final tillering (even had the cow horn tips in place). Sometimes you know why the stave or bow failed, other times it remains a mystery known only by the wood Gods. Expect a few failures now and then.:rolleyes::)

Osage is notorious for quickly dulling any cutting or scraping tool. Sounds like your knife might be a keeper.:cool:

Welcome to the realm of successful bowyers and toxophilites.:thumbup:



-Danny
 
I am VERY impressed Aaron. That is a fantastic looking bow. To be able to do it yourself is a GREAT skill to have. Very nicely done.

This is something I'd like to try also. It would be a real treat to make a bow, an arrow, take a deer, and clean it with a knife I made too.
 
Looks great Aaron, thanks for the plug:D Now you just need to start working on my bow:D

Thanks man
Nick
 
That is awesome...I am really impressed, and that is a great knife as well! I am looking forward to the struggle of making my own longbow...I am going to purchase one for this hunting season, but I really want one that I made. Thanks for a great post, Gene
 
what a great bow!

on a side note i think this was a great test for the nwa knife. for it to do all that is a testament to the design. i often find when i start doing something with one of my knives i have to resort to my sak for the fine cutting tasks.

congratulations to you and nwa.
 
All,

Thanks for all the feedback on the bow. I have shot it quite a bit since the first post and I am having a blast. The bow itself took me about 20-hours to complete. There was a period of time were I wasn't in the right frame of mind (kept wanting to rush it) to be working on it so I put it down for almost a month.

I think I am going to try and make a recurve next. But for that venture I think I will be sticking with Hickory.


AGM,

Aaron
 
wow! that is some skill!!


But i wanted to ask something, while it interests me i know virtually nothing about bows

and i am watching that movie "the mission" and i noticed those indians got enormously long arrows

i wondered why. The only valid reason i can think of to have very long arrows, seems to me to hunt very big animals so the arrow can penetrate deep. Dunno what big animals there are in that jungle, but are there any other reasons maybe? wind(but not in a thick jungle)?
 
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