Cambium removal

[baby_bowyer]

So, I've got the bow almost tillered now & am thinking of ways to take the bark off.  Actually, the bark is off.

It's the cambium layer that I need to deal with now.  Now I see why it's recommended to take the bark off soon.

Anyway, would a good few minutes in a steamy shower make it easier to take that layers off, or am I forced to pick at it till its done?  No draw knife in the toolbox yet.

[KellyG]

Give us pics heck you might not want it off. It makes some good natural cammo.

[baby_bowyer]

I JUST finished one limb, soooo, what I'll do is hold off on the second, take some pictures to compare, and just decide what to do on the next one.

Riley, huh?  I used to live in Abilene, out in Solomon, and for a while, my dad was stationed in Ft Riley, so we lived in JC.

The place still flat as gramma's you know what's?

[baby_bowyer]

Here's a video of it I just put on the tube.

 

[baby_bowyer]

I wish I could publish photos straight from my iPhone...

:-(

[Steve B.]

Looks good.  Personally I wouldn't do the shower thing but you might try dampening the cambium itself, if that helps.  I would just use a curved scraper to get the bark out of the pockets.  Yes, you can leave some for looks.
 
Good luck.

[baby_bowyer]

Thanks.  I actually just took some paper towels, got them wet and patted the areas I planned on scraping.  I have both limb backs pretty much done now, and will be working the handle next.

Made the handle a bit too narrow to cut a shelf out at this point, so I got to thinking about a solution for that.

Considering going with contouring a block of wood, then cutting it to add to the existing handle, secured by dowels.

I saw a laminated bow that had that, and it looked pretty good!

[Steve B.]

I've never cut a shelf.  I either shoot off my hand (leather glove) or just add a small shelf of wood or something when I wrap the handle.

Yea, I took the cambium off of a vine maple stave today and the stave is green and still wet.  Comes off much easier than the last vm that I allowed to dry on there.  It literally took me hours to get it clean.  

What is your bow?

[baby_bowyer]

Too narrow for a pyramid, not quite a Cherokee D.

Not sure what it is:  I just let the wood decide and worked it so I could learn techniques for each section

Originally, the handle had much more material to it, but it dried too fast and cracked down the length of the handle.  Used to be roughly 1x2, now as you see in the video it's a 1x1.

I was actually thinking of going your route and carving a little shelf, then gluing it on before wrapping.

Although, here's a thought:  square up the handle, then make a wood sleeve for it that I could carve and sand to an ergonomic shape.  Better yet, just carve the basic shapes and use the leather wrap to "fill in the blanks".  Think of the tissue on a balsa wood airplane, though with not as much free space in the framework.