Removing Material to shape the Belly

[tsimo25]

Hi,

  I am new to building bows.  I have learned so much from this form.  THANKS.  I have made 5 bows so far with only one successful build, a bow for my son-a pyramid bow at 48 total length, red oak,  46 nock to nock and a draw weight of 20lbs at 24 inches. It works great for him and and have gotten good reviews form his instructors.  

  I have been trying to make a heavier short bow for myself and have snapped the rest, mostly due to hidden knots and, to be honest, poor tillering.  

  This brings me to the core of my question.  What is the most efficient way to remove material from the belly prior to tillering?  I have used rasps, planes, files and a belt sander.  None have been a particularly good balance between efficiency and control.  Is a scrapper an option for bulk removal or just fine tuning.

Thanks,
Tom

[PEARL DRUMS]

Rasp it to low brace, scrape it to finish. Not many other options. If your talking about reducing a full stave, hatchets work great if you don't have a band saw.

[tsimo25]

Thanks.  I do not have a band saw.  I have been using a rasp but has hoping for something that may cut a few hours off the initial shaping.

[Scott F]

I'm absolutely NOT an expert - but I'll offer some expert advice for someone who is trying to reduce a stave with a rasp.

Don't get into too much of a hurry.  Nothing is worse than spending a lot of time getting to where you need to be, only to discover that you've missed your target weight because you rasped too long and took off too much material.  The transition from too much wood - too much wood removed happens quicker than you may expect.  I understand how hard it can be but you have to resist the urge to 'get it done now' by taking a methodical approach.
The very instant that you think that you should bear down and hog wood off you might consider walking away for a while...

[mwosborn]

Agree with Chris - only thing I would add is a draw knife works very well at removing wood quickly from a rough stave.  I actually enjoy using a draw knife rather than my band saw if I am not in a real big hurry.  I would suggest to use a compass to mark down from the back of the bow all along the limb - 5/8" should give you enough left to then work with the rasp.  As long as you are careful to not get into the pencil mark with the knife you are ok.  For a rasp I like both the shinto and the nicholson 49.  Enjoy the learning curve that comes with building bows!