Osage Longbow Build Balt Trad Classic

[John Scifres]

Sweet.  Thanks for posting.

[bigcountry]

Guys, I have a question.  I am seeing some string follow.  About 1".  I hear thats normal.  A friend is sending me some sinew.  The bow now is about 58lbs @ 28".  If I sinew and put snake skins over, will it raise the wieght of the bow significantly?  I know I will have to retiller.  

Only reason for sinewing is I don't like string follow, and want to learn how.

[frassettor]

Great job  

[Orion]

Sinew will stiffen it up some.  How much depends on how much sinew you put on.  One even layer should give you close to 5 pounds.  With luck, and pretty even sinew application, it may not affect the tiller much. Good luck.  Nice job.

[Pat B]

You could add 5# to 10# with sinew. You will be adding moisture to the wood again and will have to wait for it to dry. You could also kick the tips up a little(with heat) and that should increase performance or even heat treat the belly.
  You did a nice job on your bow. Is this your first self bow? If so, you did an excellent job.     Pat

[Osagetree]

Very good!!!!  

[bigcountry]

Yea, this is my first selfbow.  I am quite proud of it.  Thanks guys for the advise.  I am not wanting to put the sinew on to raise weight, but to take out any string follow, and just learn how to sinew.  So any weight it adds, I figured, I would tiller off.  

Does that make sense?

[Jason Lester]

looking good!!!

[Pat B]

There is nothing wrong with 1" of string follow. I'm lucky to make a bow with only 1" of string follow and I've been making wood bows for 20 years. A lot of work goes into sinew backing and in my opinion its not worth doing it unless you plan to achieve performance with it. If you live in a humid climate the sinew will relax a bit with high humidity and stiffen when dry. I have had sinew backed bows loose and regain over 10# throughout the year do to humidity.  Pat

[bigcountry]

Oh my gosh pat, I don't want that.  

I have a sinew osage bow, that wouldn't shoot worth a darn on a damp foggy day.  Very sluggish.  I never thought about that.  But I bet thats the reason.

Thanks for the advise.

[Terry Green]

Cool....celebrate with a theme song. Once you get past the intro its a pretty good song, and scenery of a bowhunter's dream.  One of my all time favorites from the 80s.  

 Big Country

[bigcountry]

Thanks Terry, I always needed a theme song. Now, I just need a sidekick to travel behind me with a boombox with it playing as I walk.