Need help tillering first board bow

[George Tsoukalas]

Quite a bit of run off. That's why you got the twist. Of course, you could wrap them with thread set in glue. Serving thread will work. The wrap the corresponding area on the other limb so it will look like a design. Then pick a  board with straight grain tip to tip. There's a picture of an almost perfect board on my site which I posted above. I would not give my wife a flawed bow. Jawge

[Steve B.]

Marquero,
Your bow looks really good.  I don't do board bows and I don't cut shelves in so I shouldn't comment about those areas, but if George is right about the runoff then I wouldn't waste any more time on it unless someone with experience with runoff can give good advice on how to make it more than safe.

I know that rawhide is a good back protector but I dont' know if it actually strengthens the back, such that you would have to remove more belly wood, in the end, in order to get back to your weight.  I might try the rawhide just to see.  Personally, if I wanted to really save the bow then I would sinew it....but that's because I also don't back with wood.

If, in the end, you decide to rawhide it and can't find some good rawhide then PM me with your address and I'll send you some.  Give me the exact dimensions of your bow.

[Steve B.]

Here's the bow I mentioned.  You can see I sanded the lower crack to determine if in fact it was a crack and it indeed is something that goes deeper into the wood.  I will eventually back this bow with something.   FWIW:

 

[Marquero]

Here's what the board looked like (view is from short end).  The early wood rings ran diagonally at the end of the board but ran almost perfectly down the length of the board (maybe with one or two lines running off back or belly along the whole length of the board).  

 

Is this "end grain" run off important in choosing a board?  I was under the impression that it was more an issue of run off along the length of the bow rather than run off across the width of the bow.  In other words, I thought that a good board could be cut on a slight bias.  Is that incorrect?

In this case, one effect of that slight bias is a fairly wide band of early wood running down the entire length of the back of each limb.  It is right in this early wood band that my hairline cracks have shown up.

Any ideas?

Just trying to make sure that I get a better board next time.  Or maybe I should shell out the big bucks for a real stave for my next bow.

Thanks again for all the input!

Mark

[Steve B.]

Boards for bows  

  George\\'s board info

[Black Mockingbird]

Whenever your sanding out a bow,you can rub it down with acetone or denatured alcohol in between each successive number if sandpaper,and do it out in the sunlight so that you can see any frets,cracks,or tool marks that still need removed. The acetone or alcohol will highlight these and you won't miss it before the finish is laid on. I mentioned rawhide backing the whole thing because of your grain orientation of your board,and if it popped up in one or two spots its prone to do it somewhere else,and the rawhide should keept hat one together and will cover any other areas where the early wood is off on the edge.

[Marquero]

Steve B.:  Thanks for the offer of the rawhide.  Very generous!  I may take you up on that.  I'll be traveling for the holidays and have given up on getting any real shop time in until after christmas, but don't be surprised if you get a pm from me in early Jan.

Best,

Mark

[wolfshadow]

Marquero,
Very nice first bow. You remind me of myself 3 years ago when I got trapped by this hobby.  Your questions are almost identical to mine.  I made 6 bows out of a chunk of hickory that a seasoned Amishman selected for me.  Talk about fun and intique working on the bows!  You are well on your way. Hope your wife enjoys shooting.