my first real try

[broketooth]

this is  what i would consider ny first real and honest try at making a bow. my good freind don aka "batman" brought me an osage stave from atar. it was cut in april 09. this stave was a pretty thick pie shaped wedge when you look at the end profile. don discussed this with me and advised that if i was careful i could get 2 bows outof this stave. to make a story shorter i took his advice and took the plunge.i chased a good ring, did bow layout, and using nothing but a rasp and a dull hunting knife to shape, and get to rough tiller. this bow barely bends 1" in both limbs. this is what i got so far this stave was 13/8"wide for 72" handle layout. more pocs in a few minutes

[Eric Krewson]

Apr of 09, probably still green.

[broketooth]

mr eric after i split this stave from the origanal, i let it sit for a few weeks before i did any work to it, with exception to chasing a ring. the back has not shown any signs of checking or splitting

[broketooth]

one of the things i have thought about was , that this part of the origanal stave was the narrow section of the pie shaped wedge when you look at the end profile. wouldn't it be dry enought to work at this point?

[Dano]

Ruddy, with the humidity you have out there, I wouldn't work that stave till winter, now that you have the stave reduced it will dry faster, but normally you would have to wait at least a year for a stave to be dry enough not to take all kinds of set when you go to bend it.

[broketooth]

thanks mr eric, and dano. i thought i might be able to get away with doing some of the work already. i did the bow layout and rough shaping at this point leaving the stave full width through the handle section i guess ive seen this technique somewhere on the net as using full circles to aid in limb shape, but i guess i went overboard with the circles the full length of the limbs then i saw dano's bow build and knew i went overboard     this is the snakey section in one limb. i followed mr pats advice and allowed the bow to be shaped the way it wants to be this is the limb tip after the snakey section

[Pat B]

Ruddy, you can get your bow to floor tiller stave without stressing it. Then, like the others have said, put it up until winter. If you keep it in the a/c it will help it dry. I would spray shellac on the back just in case! It is cheap insurance.

[Eric Krewson]

I have had several staves check on the back that I thought were dry enough to not have to coat the back with shellac. All it took was one of those blue bird clear days with very low humidity. I shellac every staves back unless it has been in my shop for several years.