My first BBO

Bamboo-backed osage orange. This is the fastest combination of materials that I have ever come up with. Following Dean Torges and others, I glued a thin lamination of bamboo to the back of a core of osage orange (bowdark or mock orange or hedgeapple wood). The shape is called "reflex-deflex," indicating the double curve shape of the bow. This particular bow is very fast. I would tell you how fast, but that information is classified!

Elm bow for CW

An elm bow with cedar arrows and leather quiver built for a young friend as a graduation present.

Copperhea​d Painted Osage Bow

I am really proud of this bow. This is an osage self bow that I made from a quarter log of osage orange. This highly-prized wood goes by many names, but it is absolutely the best natural material from which to make a bow. The French called it "bois d'arc," or bow of arc (arched bow) which became corrupted to "Bowdark" or "bodark," a name by which it still goes in the deep South and all the way to west Texas. In the Midwest it is usually referred to as hedge, since many long rows of the species were planted as fence rows and windbreaks during the early frontier days and after the Dust Bowl days of the 1930's. Elsewhere, the tree is called "Horse Apple," or mock orange. The fruit is distinctive: if you have ever seen a tree that looks like it has huge yellow green balls on it, you were looking at an osage tree. The wood is very dense (it won't float!) and bright yellow when first cut. It is extremely springy and strong, thus making it excellent for bows and arrows. This bow was commissioned by a friend of mine who wanted an osage bow with a copperhead design on the back. I handpainted the design and he was pleased with it. The bow is very fast. It pulls 57 pounds at 28" and is 66" long.

Bamboo-backed Osage Bow

Bamboo-backed Osage Bow in a Reflex-deflex Design

This bow belongs to a young lady who recently won an archery tournament with it. She purchased it from me in the spring of 2011 and obviously learned to shoot it very well. I am especially proud of the checkerboard woodwork design on the handle and the tips. The woods are black walnut, bloodwood and maple on the handle and tips.