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Osage English Longbow

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KsSidewinder

Osage English Longbow

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Posts: 1180

May 1 09 2:18 PM

Here is my interpretation of an English Longbow. Kansas osage style. 68" 60@28. 1-1/16" at the handle tapered to 3/8" tips. Belly depth at the handle is 3/4 My kitchen scale says it weighs 19oz. but I'm not sure how accurate it is ( old garage sale spring scale). It draws real smooth and shoots real good.

Here it is on the tillering tree

heres a shot of the belly resting in a bed of spring lettuce

and here is a nice character knot in the side of the limb. I could have built around it and cut it out but I thought it would add a little uniqueness.

paleo peepsight

and finally some shots of the tips

Danny

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

Last Edited By: KsSidewinder May 3 09 2:42 PM. Edited 1 time.

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John B

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Posts: 129

May 1 09 2:23 PM

Very nice. What's the finish on that beauty?

KsSidewinder

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Posts: 1180

May 1 09 2:35 PM

Thank you John. It has 2 light coats of Tru oil. Danny

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

Griffin

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Posts: 1038

May 1 09 2:40 PM

WOW! i love it.

Its very well made and the nocks are wonderful.
The more I look at them the more i like them, you are a real craftsman.
The peephole makes it one of a kind and its a real beauty! Very good call to keep it!

If I would comment on something it would be that it seems to be bending mostly
in the handle area and not so much in the limbs. If the bow can take it, it will probably shoot fast
but watch if it takes alot of set in that bending area because it puts much stress in only this spot.

The other thing is that its a little risky to make selfnocks with this poundage.
If they hold - yey because i love selfnocks on osage, but i would recommend
getting some horn and trying some simple overlays on future projects not for beauty
but to be sure the wood doesn't splinter.

Please don't take this bad because i love the bow, its just what i have experienced
and I'm just trying to share what little i know

Griffin

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Posts: 1038

May 1 09 2:43 PM

Is the bow only 3 year rings?

you saved some beauty for yourself then, sweet!!!

gmc

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Posts: 526

May 1 09 5:16 PM

Danny:
Been waiting to see this bow for awhile now, excellent work! Just how many people can say they have a built in, natural peep sight on their bow? Glad you left the horn off the ends, the english used it because they had to, this is Kansas style wood here. Thanks for sharing Dude.

KsSidewinder

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Posts: 1180

May 1 09 9:02 PM

Thanks guys,

Greg...thanks for the compliment. I have been looking forward to it as well. I think I may do more of these in the future with a few variations. I am convinced this style was influenced by the pressure of economy of wood. It does'nt take much wood to make one of these.

Kristoff..coming from you thats a good encouragement because you my friend... are a craftsman. The set you speak of is in the area you identified. It's not terribly bad so I'm not dissapointed. I think the osage tips can handle even less at this weight and even more. I know it is hard to believe but you can go real small with this stuff. I saw some tips this weekend that were 1/4" on a 50# bow by Greg Vasquez with no overlay and it was wicked fast. The rings on this one are only a little more than 1/16th of an inch apart. I added a photo below so you can see the rings more clearly. I count 10 layers including the crown at the handle, which is 3/4" deep. This piece was actually one I harvested last August.
I thought it was too narrow to make a flatbow out of but I think now I could have gone either way now that it is finished. I think there are a few variations one could make off of the longbow style that could be fun.

Hows this for some macro shots?

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

Jaro

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Posts: 400

May 1 09 11:22 PM

Whoa, very nice. The tips also, and the knothole! The tiler though is more what we usually perceive for native woodlands style than english bow.
Adam Keiper (AkinPa) made once nice target osage bow, I m still looking for that picture, but cant find it.

But overall its expertly done.

Jaro

KsSidewinder

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Posts: 1180

May 2 09 5:27 AM

Jaro,
Thank you for the comments. Am I to assume that on the Elb style I should have more bending in the outer limbs than towards the handle? My concern when tillering was I did'nt want it taking too much set midlimb so I tried to get as much of the limb working as I could. It even moves a little in the handle area ( a first for me ). I started out trying to keep it stiff to about 6" from center but it seemed the more I shaved on it and worked on the rounded belly the more it wanted to keep bending closer to the handle and I was liking the looks of the arc so I just went with it. I still have much to learn and understand as it relates to tiller profiles. I know it has been explained a hundred times on this forum but sometimes I can be a bit dense when it comes to understanding certain things and this seems to be one of those things.

Danny

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

redhawk 53

osage ELB

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Posts: 459

May 2 09 5:27 AM

Wow, that´s a great bow. I´m always a bit afraid of using woods like osage, black locust, ash..........for an ELB- design., cause these woods like rectangular cross- sections. But your choice of wood is great, thick growthrings, premium craftmanship. I love selfbows more than ever. Did you chrono this beauty?

Michael

Jaro

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Posts: 400

May 2 09 5:34 AM

Danny, I like it. I made bows with this kind of bend myself. But I only did it so with light wood. Your description how you got it where it is is interesting. I suppose all this has alot to do with width taper. I recally Badger (Steve) here making two bows out of sister staves in osage with distinct snake bend in one half and those were only around 1" wide and with tiler exactly like this.

Jaro

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George Tsoukalas

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Posts: 4974

May 2 09 5:49 AM

I like it too, though I do like a little more bending in the outer limbs. Kicks less. I am concerned about the nocks. Did you cut through the back? Looks like you cut through the back of the nock to keep the string on. I saw an osage bow break in that very spot for the same reason. Jawge

http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

dutchwarbow

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Posts: 878

May 2 09 6:09 AM

that's a real beauty Danny! well done

Nick

KsSidewinder

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Posts: 1180

May 2 09 7:35 AM

Michael believe it or not its got thin rings, just a little over 1/16". Check the macro shots above and count them. If you include the crown at handle I count 10 layers of late wood. The Early to late ratio is good though and it seems dense. I have not chrono'd it and probabley won't. I used to think that made a difference to me but when it spits them down range plenty fast I'm happy. I have a ways to go before I can worry about chasing speed. I'm still wrestling with tiller consistency.

Jaro: It just shows ya that ignorance sometimes is bliss. Just stumbling along trying to make it look good all the way around and this is the result.

Jawge: Is that what causes the handshock..too much bending near and in the handle? Here I thought it was too much mass on the outer limbs. Learn something new everyday. I will have to remember that next time.

Nick: Thanks. Hope I can get the correct tiller profile next time, although I like the way it looks and feels it is still not quit right according to the style.

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

Nathan Elliot

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Posts: 280

May 2 09 7:57 AM

What a great looking bow. Something to aspire to.

N.

French Crow

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Posts: 1275

May 2 09 2:33 PM

KsSidewinder wrote:
....................
Jawge: Is that what causes the handshock..too much bending near and in the handle? Here I thought it was too much mass on the outer limbs. Learn something new everyday. I will have to remember that next time.
..........

Too much bending in the handle can cause handschock, as well as mass on the outer limbs and uneven tiller. Your bow has not too much handschock because you made the tips narrow/light and your tiller is even.
But lot of bending in the handle helps making your bow so sweet to draw. That's important too...

I don't like how the knocks are cut in the back, even if osage is very tough and should stand that. They're very nicely shaped though.
Beautiful bow, very clean, very nice finish touches.

Bruno

Dauntless

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Posts: 819

May 2 09 6:35 PM

Looks a lot like a Cherokee warbow. Congratulations, not a lot of people turn Osage into traditional designs. She is a beauty.

KsSidewinder

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Posts: 1180

May 3 09 5:47 AM

Nathan...thank you.

Bruno, thank you for the kind words. I did not realize that you should'nt cut the knocks in the back without an overlay so it is just how I have done it. If I could go back and redo that portion I would have overlayed them with some of the zebrawood pieces I have left. Maybe next time.

Thank you Dauntless, I did not know that is how they made their war bows. The more I am shooting it and around it the more I like it. I finished the handle treatment yesterday and will be posting pics of that today. It turned out real cool. I did'nt think I could do much to improve it in terms of looks but the handle treatment has changed my mind.

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

Orien M

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Posts: 4632

May 3 09 8:20 AM

Administrator

Nice looking bow, Danny! I think that Kansas Osage can probably handle just about any design you'd care to try with it. I like the knothole, the finish looks great, too. The tiller looks exactly like my last (elm) longbow, a little too much handle bend but I bet it feels sweet to draw. If it shoots accurately for you, that's all that matters...

. Great work!

I've gotten away with nocks like that before...if it starts to worry you then you can wrap the tips below the notch for extra insurance.

My handmade knives and tools on Etsy... http://www.etsy.com/shop/OldSchoolTools

NOMADIC PIRATE

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Posts: 2245

May 3 09 1:18 PM

Nice one Danny !

KsSidewinder

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Posts: 1180

May 3 09 2:42 PM

Thanks Manny.

I finally got the handle done. It was giving me fits as to what design I wanted and what would enhance the bow. I have not handled a genuine English Long bow nor studied many photos but I did fashion a handle that I thought looked medevial. The black leather lace I used as decoration also has a practical purpose of given one a physical reference for hand placement, therefore ensuring consistancy. I put a hundred arra's through it this afternoon and it is well balanced and shoots good. I weighed it on the draw scale and it is officially 60# at 28 so thats the way I wil record it. I would'nt say its an extremely fast bow, but it shoots with plenty of authority. I think my accuracy will go up after shooting this one for a while. My groups from15yds were within 4" and that was unusual for me as I am an average shot so I think the longer limbs and smoothness of shooting is having a medicinal effect.
Anyway, you all know how much I like to post pics, so heres some with the handle on.

Here it is after a hundred arrows, freshly unbraced.

"You will know a tree by the fruit it bears" God

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