Just finished this, my third longbow and first made with osage orange.    Got the stave (and the snakeskin) from a fellow Primitive Archer forumite here in Missouri.
Turned out pretty nice; it's a 45# pull at 28".  Smooth draw, and almost no hand-shock on release.
That snakeskin is a blacksnake, mostly applied to cover up numerous small tool marks that I was afraid to sand down too far.
The ring that forms the back of the bow was rather thin, and I didn't want to thin it any further.

Next....I'm thinking recurve.... http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7da30b3127cce835d2fc44e2000000015108AcNGzhu3bNn

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7da30b3127cce835d2fd64e3200000015108AcNGzhu3bNn

And another pic:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7da30b3127cce835d2fc44e2000000015108AcNGzhu3bNn

Very nice!  
Any other details?  Like did you do tip overlays, total length, or anything?  I really like the snake skin backing.  You did an excellent job on it.

I'm working on my second red oak board bow (linen backed) , then I'm thinking about trying to do a bamboo backed ipe (brazilian walnut) bow, loosely based of off of this:

http://www.geocities.com/salampsio/ipe7.htm

Maybe sometime in the future I'll do a fiberglass/wood laminate bow, it would be a fun (but expensive) project.
As you can see, I'm not doing this quite as traditionally as you are.

I'd like to thank you and CanDo, and others who have posted bow pictures, again for giving me the extra little nudge I needed to get into bowyering, even though I have done very little of it so far.

NIce looking bit of kit - so compared to a sling what sort of range do you get with your bows ?

Oh yeah how have you affixed the snakeskin ? ie: what sort of glue (I presume) do you use for snakeskin ?

Very nice indeed, I like it  ;D

Sweet bow!!!

8-)

I didn't use any tip overlays (though they do look nice) since this particular stave was rather "crowned".  That is, rounded. I'd have had to cut too deeply into the outer ring to make a flat gluing surface.
Maybe the next one.

I did a lot of research before working with the snakeskin.  Web "authorities" recommended everything from modern synthetic glues like Titebond II or III, to traditional "hide glue" techniques.

I went with the Knox gelatin method.  Knox is essentially hide glue (yechh, right?) and you just mix up a stiff mixture in a double boiler (you have to keep it warm) and apply with a paintbrush to bow and the skin.
Lay the pieces out carefully and smooth out any bubbles, then wrap the whole thing with cloth tape or elastic bandage.  A couple of days to dry, then you can cut away the excess with a sharp knife and clean up the edges with a fine file.
Oh, you have to remove the scales too.  (they're very loose, you just go over the skin with the sticky side of some duct tape.
Apply final finish and you're done!

well hide glue has been used in compound bows for many hundreds of years - so no reason for it not to work :-)
cheers for the info

Compound bows were invented in the 1950s or 60s, You must mean composite bows.  
  This is a compound bow:

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/59/Compound_Bow_full.jpg/250px-Compound_Bow_full.jpg

That is one cool bow!   8-)  Thanks for the great tips.  I may eventually try to build something like this, but I doubt if my results will be anything nearly as good.  BTW, Has anyone here had any experience making, and using improvised, quick-and-dirty "survival" bows?

I'm going to pass it on here- Do it!  This is a great website for beginners :

http://www.geocities.com/salampsio/

I used the instructions for the red oak board bow for my first two.  


A member here said something about bundle bows (for survival situations), I don't remember who.  I haven't done it.

http://www.primitiveways.com/bow_and_arrow.html

If you're at all interested in building, I recommend the excellent "Bowyer's Bible" series.

The first volume contains nearly everything you'd want to know about making a primitive bow from a wide variety of woods, from the traditional Osage and Yew to the other woods and even hardware-store boards.

Most library systems will have them, or they're available at trade-paperback prices from Amazon and others.

Primitive archer is a related magazine, and they have a nice website and active bulletin board as well.  ( I post there frequently)

Quote:

Compound bows were invented in the 1950s or 60s, You must mean composite bows

Yep certainly did ;-)

Apparently, the first patent for a compound bow was issued in 1969.   That seems about right; I was shooting a composite recurve in the early 70s when I had my shoulder injury, and I remember seeing compound bows showing up commercially about then.

Some of the "primitive" archers call 'em "four-wheel-drive" bows.

I've heard of the cams/pulleys referred to as "training wheels."  There are some people who seem to despise compound bows.  I've shot one maybe 5 times or so.  They certainly are fun to shoot, but they really aren't bows.  I don't have anything against them, it's just that they aren't at all in the same league.  Plus, a good chunk of the fun, to me at least, is planning and making the bow, although I have just started doing that.  Not many people make their own compounds. ;)

that is a remarkable piece of art and workmanship....so how do you do it.  i've been trying in vain to get even just the basics off of the internet.   i've seen some osage orange around, do i have to fell the whole tree or can i use a branch?  anything you can tell me to help me get started would be great!  once again, beautiful bow bud

Does the skin stretch and add power to the bow just like sinew does, or is it just there to prevent the wood from breaking?

I shoot both compound and recurve bows.  The compound is more accurate for me and much easier to shoot.  But I think the recurve is more fun because it is harder to shoot and takes more work to learn to use well.  Kind of like a gun and a sling.  The sling is much harder to master but gives me much more pride to learn.  I want to next make a long bow with my own hands and master it.

Snakeskins are strictly cosmetic; the skin is very thin, and would not add much protection to the back.   This was my first attempt with osage, and my ham-handed working of the back down to the single ring left a bunch of minor tool marks.   Since the ring was rather thin, I didn't want to sand it down further, so I just covered them up!

Here are the two primary internet resources I used:

Ferret's page:
http://groups.msn.com/ferretsarcherywebpage/_homepage.msnw?pgmarket=en-us/
has a number of well-photographed articles, and a great section on making "board bows" from scratch.

George Tsoulaka's site:
http://www.angelfire.com/magic/jawge/

Also lots of well-photographed build-a-longs.

Primitive Archer magazine has a very nice forum too.
The Bowyer's Bible series has everything you'd ever want to know, and they are about 12.00 bucks each in paperback from Amazon.

Most don't recommend osage for beginners, as the wood tends to be very "snakey" and also to have little branches and knots.  I was lucky to get a nearly-perfect stave from one of the forum guys.

Far easier to work with a forgiving wood like hickory if you want to start from a small tree or sapling.
Excellent bows can be made from boards; hickory, red oak, ash, etc.  All the above resources have good stuff on how to proceed.
Ferret (above) has a very nice tutorial on making a basic "board" bow with illustrations of what kind of grain to look for in a board.   ( I went to a local hardwood dealer for a red oak board, and the second bow I made from that one is still shooting fine.)