Quest for the elusive Osage Grail

[Graeme K]

My search for selfbow material has taken a turn for the better.
Dadpad -- aka Keith from central Victoria has just supplied me with a nice stave of osage.
Keith works in the forrestry industry so is in the fortunate position of coming across the occasional bit of bow quality timber. I know that he still has some shorter pieces of osage if anyone is looking for riser or lam material
Hopefully he will find some more interesting things in the future.

Graeme

[yeoman]

You lucky bowyer you!

[dadpad]

Thanks for the rap Graham.

I'm pleased the wood found a good home.

Smaller pieces are available for risers anyone can PM me if interested.

[perry]

I have made a couple of Osage selfbows and[ meaning no disrespect or offence ]other than being exotic looking I see no advantage over a quality Grey Iron Bark, Brigalow,Spotted Gum or any number of similar AUSTRALIAN timbers from a performance looks or durability veiwpoint.
I appreciate pretty figurative bow wood ,just cant get my head around why so many Aussie bowmakers just gotta have yet another American import on there bowrack.
My favourite selfbow is now 7 years old and has got to have shot in excesss of 40 000 arrows. It is based on the Meare Heath artifact and originally drew 52# . Recently I was feeling destrutive and lopped an inch and a half off each end, it now pulls 63# and shoots sweeter than it did before . It is made of Brigalow
The most recent bow on my rack is a 46# Brigalow 74 inch long flat bow- really impresive shooter and very snaky profile
There is plenty of Aussie timber out there that equals or exceeds any properties the more widely known imported timbers posses.
Dont misunderstand me Ive made bows from anything you can name between purple heart boards to hickory pickhandles and they were beautifull.Give the Aussie stuff a go its impressive.

[GrahameA]

Hi Perry

IMHO People do not use Brigalow because:

a, They are not aware of how good it is and

b, it is very hard to get.

And being difficult to get results in people not being aware of it.

If any of the archers here were to make a bow from Brigalow that used both the Sapwood and the Heartwood they would be stunned - not only by its performance but also by it looks.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Yeah there are some great Aussie woods but I can understand the attraction of Osage Orange.

There just isn't any other wood that is that beautiful yella colour when freshly worked. Also it is fun chasing and following a growth ring which is something we can't really do with our Aussie hardwoods.

Jeff

[yeoman]

Perry, where did you get your brigalow from? I've long looked at the mechanical properties and dreamed of what I could do with it. You said it was a snaky bow so you must have had a split stave, huh?
I can't find it commercially anywhere.

Dave

[erron]

Just a useless aside but it's great to hear people talk about the nitty gritty of bow making, even for someone like me whose only real experience of growth rings is what's happening under his eyes

Erron

[stace]

Well originally Osage may have been an IMPORT ,however if you are lucky enough there are local stands of this great timber available as DADPAD has found some .AND KINDLY shared

As long as Aussie archers are building bows and their own gear no matter what timber I say good stuff
Wouldn't mind a source of Brigalow anyone know where its available ?
stace

[Graeme K]

Hi Stace
Brigalow or Acacia harpophylla grows in an area of inland northern NSW and runs up in to southern QLD. As far as I know it is not cut commercially as it never gets to be a big tree. It often grows along with ' Belah' Casurina cristata which is another interesting timber that I would like to give a try but as with most of the non commercial OZ timbers the only way to get it is to go to the area and find some on private land and cut it yourself. I have tried to get other people to cut trees for me but it never seems to works because they dont seem to understand how critical the selection is. Still I am planing to do some traveling next year and I will be trying to find both of the above. It is not always as easy as finding the species that you are interested in -- I have been looking for a stave of Acacia glaucescens (which grows in my area) for over a year but it is always riddled with defects and insect damage -- still I keep looking.

Graeme

[yeoman]

Conversely, I used to live on a farm which was right near a block of bush..about 200 acres which was riddled with silver wattle and dogwood (don't really know what it was...that's what the owner called it.). As they were both pests to him, being a logger, I got as much as I could carry.

Dave

[perry]

Yoeman I,ve cut most of the Brigalow I,ve used out in the south west of QLD . Can absolutly tell you I have seen it in Lazaraides Timber Agencies located in Banyo ,a nothern suburb of Brisbane.I dont have there phone number but will email you when I can get hold of it- bloody expensive though- might be cheaper to drive out and get it yourself.
Gidgee, Mulga and Lancewood all have that sapwood thing going as well and are proven bow wood
Osage selfbows I made I left the sapwood on , having grown in the Stanthorpe region of QLD my theory is that the sapwood grew thinner and the heart wood tougher than the American grown Osage Ive seen because of the harsher Aussie enviroment-anyone have anything further to add to this .
One thing Ive noticed is that the Bowyers Bibles have a lot of great information on how to treat and make bows from there timbers[mostly American] and virtualy none of it is much use down here with Aussie grown imported species trees

[greybeard]

Perry,
It was refreshing to read your post in support of Australian timbers and their suitability for bow making. Unfortunately Australia is probably one of the few continents in the world that does not have a history pertaining to the bow and arrow. They say ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ and as we know the original inhabitants of this continent had other means of obtaining sustenance.
As for other continents bow designs were based on the timbers available locally (except for trading routes) and were developed over many years. From experience I know we have some exceptional indigenous timbers and that we should do all we can to utilise this resource. Some timbers can produce both flat and ‘D’ section bows and others only flat bows. Personally I believe air dried bush billets will produce a superior bow but by the same token I have seen milled boards perform well. My favourite self bow is a Red Ash ‘D’ section longbow (bush billet) I made several years ago and despite a little string follow still performs well. At the moment I have about 300 kg of Ironbark billets to be converted to flatbows, it’s been drying (sealed) for about four years now so another year or two shouldn’t matter.
Hopefully there may be some other bowyers out there who are willing to share their experiences with Australian timbers so that we may learn and not live in the shadow of imported wood. Re harsher environment, yes, areas west of the divide appear to produce a superior product.

Daryl.

[yeoman]

I agree that Aussie timbers are fantastic for bows. I made I don't know how many bows from silver wattle over the years. The mechanical stats suggested that it wouldn't do too good, but boy, when I got a good stave, did those arrows fly!!

It's so unfair that all you lucky scoundrels get tree-split staves and I have to make do with less than perfect board staves. I say less than perfect as I can't see the grain properly at the timber yard as the finish of the wood isn't very high and masks the grain somewhat.

What would you guys charge for split staves of brigalow and ironbark?

Dave

[greybeard]

Yeoman,
Have you enquired with timber mills in your area? I believe that when they saw logs they cut off flitches or sleeper backs (Ithink that is some of the terms used). You may have to seal them and let them dry but it could be an option. (Patience is a virtue,so they tell me).
Daryl.

[yeoman]

Very unfortunately, I can't find any sawmills within 100km, and even then, they only mill the lesser woods with low density and unfavorable working qualities.

Dave