New guy question

[cka221]

Greetings all. I just completed my first success, out of 6. So first off, is there a support group forum for distressed wanna be bowyers? If not then I'll just beat myself on the head with my last broken blank until I forget that I thought this was a good idea. Seriously, I have the fever and the desire to get it right. Anway the bow that is complete is hickory with a jabota backing and thanks to my aggresive tillering method is now just above 30# @ 28". I have shot the bow a handful of times and I have noticed horizontal checking on the upper mid limb. From reading other post I believe these are crystals in the hickory. My question is this, will I most likely be smacked on the head again and recieve another form of education? Or is this just compression of the now thinner hickory belly of the limb? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Pat B]

I believe you got your combo backwards. I would have make a hickory backed jatoba bow instead. Hickory makes an excellent backing but a poor belly. I have never used Jatoba but if it is like most tropical hardwoods it should make a good belly.
  Is there a reason you did it the way you did or was it just because?

[cka221]

I attempted this combination in the reverse order and had a failure during tillering, smacked me on the head. So I tried this combo.

[hova]

id say go a little slower , make yourself a tillering gizmo , and use a tree instead of a stick...


and yeah , hickory doesnt like to be compressed from what i hear . if youre worried about it , they reccomend wrapping the chrysals ...


oh , btw : you are already here in the wanna be bowyers support group. my name is hov , im the resident noob , until now....


welcome...
-hov

[4est trekker]

Ditto to what PatB said.  Also, wrapping the fretted area won't help at all.  Once it frets, the wood is damaged.  I've followed Dean Torge's patch method in which you remove the offended wood and splice in a new piece, but even then it's sketchy.  

The tillering gizmo that Eric Krewson did a buildalong for is an excellent tillering aid.

Best of luck, and keep with it (and always wear safety goggles...I do!)    

[Stiks-n-Strings]

If the frets are not to bad you can scrape the outer part of the limb the same amount as your fret is wide or just a hair more. Maybe even on both sides but less swipes toward the riser and more toward the tip.

 For example if you fret is 1/2" across the belly I would scrape from just a hair past the fret towards the tip maybe 5/8" and give it 4 or 5 good swipes but not real aggressive and maybe 2 swipes on the fade side and see if it stops it. If not give'er a few more.

 Paul Comstock describes this method and says you can stop a fret in it's tracks in his book "the bent stick" and it works. My swap bow developed a fret in the lower limb and I did this and I talked to Swissbow the other day through a PM and he said she is still holding up good and the fret hasn't got any worse.
 
 Now keep in mind that if the fret is too bad then this will probably not work. The Bow I built was boo backed Jatoba and I would say that your backing overpowered your belly after you got it to thin. Plus Pat and 4est said Hickory works better as a backing or a selfbow than a belly wood and these two fellers know bow makin'.

 Just my thought's. If it where me I would put in the corner of shame (every good bowyer has one) and start a new bow.

 Good luck and you will get there, it took me six or seven staves to get a shooter but I finally got there. Don't look at it as failure look at it as a learning experience and glean from your mistakes. I always remember my oops days and learn from them better when I figure out what I did wrong and how to correct it.

 Stiks

[cka221]

Thanks to all for the info. Since my last posting the above bow has been placed in an early retirement. The upper limb which was the one in question is weakening as the checking increases. I however have had success thanks to the gizmo, and tillering with a scraper instead of the sander. So I have 2 shooting board bows and a heat box has been completed for the next project. Now the problem is deciding on how to best spend my minimal free time... shooting or building???

[Pennsyltuckey pete]

Hunt when you can,
shoot a little every day,
build at all other times.

Just my rule.

I sent you a PM.

pete