Guys,

If you have Osage to make a bow out of use it. You'll be hard pressed to find a better bow wood. Sure its not the easiest wood to work but it is one of, if not the best to make selfbows out of.

The deal is go slow, take your time and do not rush. As much as you may want done on your first few bows you need to just go slow. You'll learn where you can get faster and where you need to slow down. The last thing you want is to get almost done and break it because you were in a hurry. This happens alot with new Bowyers. If you can find someone in your area to help that is invaluable. Try Tradgang.com for more people that build their own.

As for the drawknife vs. saw. Many people use saws (bandsaw and tablesaws) for reducing the stave to near the deminsions of a bow. The problem is with any power tool a mistake is VERY easy to make and then you end up with firewood. If you use a drawknife it takes alot more effort and if your carefull you can avoid a mistake. Once you get close do your demensions for the bow slow down even with the drawknife. It takes most people some time to learn how to control a drawknife. Once you learn it, itsa great tool.

Hickory is not a bad selfbow wood however In my experienceI've seen many more attemptswith hickory end up broken. It has its own set of problems.

Oh and one thing to always remember never pull your bow beyond you intended draw weight. Even if your only drawing a could inches. You induce set and set it up tofail...

Good luck guys and if I can be ofhelp just ask. BTW if your in the Cincinnati areaI'll help if you need it.