DID I GO THROUGH MY RING???

[kansas stik man]

I started my first osage selfbow today and took it down to what i thought was a good ring but i think i may have gone through to far.  here are some pictures , i did the best i could with lighting. its really tough to tell if i went through the ring or not.  is there any other way to tell if i went through or not.  it seems like the ring is plent thick.  any and all input is welcome.  thanks

[ranger 3]

It's hard to see in the pics. but it don't look like it. Can you post a pic. a little farther away from the camera?

[No-sage]

You should also look at the side of your stave to see.  You may have to cut a fresh edge first.

[kansas stik man]

on the side of the stave the ring line is very close to the surface. thats bad huh? isnt the ring supposed to be as thick as possible? i just dont wanna risk having it break because that little spot.

[No-sage]

It's hard to say for sure from the pictures, but it looks like you went through 2 rings and are down to a third.

[hova]

looks like you gotta take it all down to one ring again. get to it.

-hov

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks like several violations there. You can see them if you look at the back outside in the sun. There is info on my site. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Pat B]

Place the stave between you and a light source. The sun is best but an incandescent light works too. The early wood will jump out in the correct light.
  Can you post a pic od the stave's end so we can see the rings. Trees have lunar rings in the late wood. If the rings are thick enough you can see each lunar ring. That might be what you are showing us here. You are better off having a good, clean, solid growth ring for your bow's back. That is what makes a bow work, that strong clean back ring.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Boy that's a tough one to call just from pics. Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to see the ring your chasing and that's why I have shop lights above me on all sides of me where I am working. The more light the better.

I'm actually chasing a ring on a stave right now and I'll try to get some good pics for you and describe what I'm talking about with the pics. Maybe that will help a bit more.
If somebody doesn't jump in here and explain it better than I think I can before tomorrow I'll try to take some pics of what I'm working on and see if I can explain it for you a little bit.

Also take a look at Jawge's website click where it says to, then scroll down toward the bottom where it says Making an Osage bow. He's got some good pics and info on there just for these types of questions.

[Goose Gossett]

There is potential (depending on how long that spot is and where it is placed in the stave) that you could cut that section out of the bow without worries.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Actually, I went back and looked at the pics again and in the top 3 pics it looks like I can see at least 3 layers of ring growth.
It's layered like a cheese slices all staggered just a tiny bit further back from the one below it, right near the edge of the stave in the top of the pic.

I believe you violated about 3 maybe 4 rings there? Don't go any deeper than the deepest one until you remove the ones above it that have been violated.

I'll come back to this tomorrow and see how it's going.

[John Cooper]

It almost looks like "lunar" rings.  Look at the end of your stave and if you have really thick growth rings with faint lines in between, that's what it is.  How wide is your stave and where in the stave is this picture taken.  You might be able to save yourself some work and lay out your bow so it doesn't hit this trouble spot.

John

[Art B]

I think those are lunar rings also. Being near the edge, and once a bow is fasioned, and it's edged rolled or trapped, that section will probably completly disappear anyhow.

But if in doubt, go on down another ring........Art

[John Scifres]

I agree that they look like lunar rings, unless you are working a stave with very thin annual rings.  On rings thicker than 1/4", lunar rings are common.  I don't think you'll have a problem in the end.