I think something worth mentioning is when you are chasing a ring on osage and you get down to that pourous early growth, you can actually feel it in the draw knife when you use it like Joe demonstrates.

Once you get a good feel for it you can really shuck a stave pretty quick. Joe hit the nail on the head when he said it's not as hard as alot of literature makes it sound. You can't be afraid of it and you just got to want it. LOL

Stiks

I'll admit that I'm fairly quick at getting down throught the bark, sapwood, and just above the ring I want, but I slow way down when I get close. My spoke shave has made a world of difference in the speed at which I can prep a stave. I've really grown to love that little tool, and I wish I would have had it 6 months ago.

Joe is still the "Osage Whisperer" though, I think you've earned that title. Thanks to Kelly, I beleive it's gonna stick.      

This is good to see how it's done. Please keep it coming!

I ain't gonna lie, "Osage Whisperer" has a nice ring to it.  

Looking good, keep it coming.

These posts are never boring even for an old guy like me. I learn something every time I read one. Keep them coming.

I too an pretty quick removing the bark and sapwood(or at least used to be. the last one kicked my butt!) because I through caution to the wind(not suggested) and repair the damage later. Once I get near my back ring I take my time to get as clean a ring as possible. After all, that back ring is the life of the bow.
 I think a lot of what scares newbies is being unfamiliar with the tools and the medium. Once we get comfortable with these things our work speeds up without jeopardising the project.

i love your threads joe. you have a way with explaining it without sounding condescending or silly. great job on this.


and yes , osage  whisperer has a much nicer ring to it that "hedgeapple hummer"


-hov

This is a great build-a-long.

             

Yep Joe you might as well see if they can change your ID name here from Osage tree to Osage whisperer. lol

i'm learning alot! i have plans to bulid a bow like this in may with a friend from montana's guidance. this is great prep reading to get an idea of what i'll be doing.

couple questions:

1. after you cut an osage tree down, how long do you usually have to let it dry before making a bow?

2. when you "chase a ring", if you accidently knick thru it in a spot, do you have to stop & start over chasing to the next ring?

Bradley, PM sent!

Me too PatB.....it doesn't bore me in the least!
I actually chased 2 staves today, removed sapwood from another and got a bend in the handle bow roughed in. I just got done steaming it in the middle to draw out the middle to line the tips up. Gonna let it sit overnight and check it in the morning. If all goes well I will have it on the string tomorrow, maybe tillered by dark?

Thanks for taking the time to do this Joe....uh hem I mean.....
Mr. Osage Whisperer.    

Thank you for the how to lessons OsageTree, Ken

PM recieved.... thank you!

can't wait to see more  

I can't wait to see the finished bow! I hope to build a bow some time soon. thanks, for taking the time to show us how you do it.

Whisperin' Joe, The Osage Whisperer, huh?     :D   (I like it!) As indicated, another great and informative thread for all of us. I can't imagine any one who has any interest at all in the subject, finding any thread boring. I know I never have. Nobody ever knows (no matter how many times a thing is said/explained) when and by who or just how a thing will be said that just hits resonance in our own certain headbone, and all of the sudden we say "Ah-ha! so that's what all those others were talking about." I love it when that happens. Keep up the good work Joe (and everyone else too). Even beginners can be "instructors" to others from time to time, including themselves -    

Ol' osage whisperer....while I was chasing a ring this weekend with my DK, it was tearing out terrible gouges, I flipped the stave around and worked it from the other direction and everything went well. Is this typical or coincidental?

I can remember back before we had a separate forum for The Bowyer's Bench here, I had never seen anything about bow building. Then I started reading the occasional build-a-long or other thread on the subject in Pow Wow and found them intrigueing to me. I kept saying that, if I had got interested "younger", I would have loved to try it but it was a little late now (then). Finally a local (now) friend of mine who only reads here, got in touch with me and wouldn't take that as an answer. He forced me under his wing (even bought me a bow blank and a Osage stave). He got me in his shop and taught me how to make two bows and helped me on a few others (over the phone, etc.). I did build-a-longs, on three different sites, so that other folks could/would keep me out of trouble - LOL. Finally, (my point in all this is), it was so gratifying to have so many folks who e-mailed, PM'd, or entered posts saying how much the threads helped them too, it was just unbelievable. It is perhaps one of the most enjoyable periods of my (very enjoyable) life. I stopped for a while (various reasons) but I do intend to build some more bows, and all of you guys now are helping to jog my faulty memory - daily. Sometimes you do it by answering questions and sometimes you do it by asking them - never stop. I'd like to take this chance to sneak in here, in Joe's fine thread, to say, "Thank you so very much, one and all."

QuoteOriginally posted by Balding Kansan:
Ol' osage whisperer....while I was chasing a ring this weekend with my DK, it was tearing out terrible gouges, I flipped the stave around and worked it from the other direction and everything went well. Is this typical or coincidental?

Yes it is. If your draw knife ever starts to go deeper than you intended......just stop.
If you keep going you could tear out a really deep chunk or strip of wood that will take the precious rings with it including some you intended to keep.
You did right by turning around and working it from the other direction. I keep my knife really sharp and that helps me target only the intended wood that I want to take off. I think a dull knife does more tearing and breaking rather than cutting like it should.
Hope Joe doesn't mind me stepping in with an answer on this question?
But I have experienced it first hand and wanted to offer my 2 cents on it.

Joe what have you been up to?