Have a board, making 1st bow, taper & grain violation?

[Zradix]

Hi!

Just found my first piece of red oak to make a board bow out of.

Looked through LOTS of boards of varying widths and lengths.

All the while looking for one the the least amount of grain violation..or at least an area I can rip out of the board to get straight grain.

So after all this inspecting for straight grain I'm pretty happy with what I found.
..I'll post a pic a little later and look forward to your experienced critique.

Here's my question...

from what I understand, the next step is to width taper the limbs.

That's going to cut through tons of grain.

I guess I really don't understand WHY I was looking for stright grain if I'm going to cut through them.

...is it to keep the limbs from twisting?

Thank you

Also...should I just do a straight taper from riser to tips or should I leave the limbs straight and only taper the last 15" or so?

Thank you

John

[LittleBen]

Hopefully this helps explain why the grain needs to be straight.

On the left, that limb has nice straight grain running the length of the bow, yes some grain always has to runoff unless the bow has no taper, but this is the least that it possible to have.

On the right, That limb would break along one of the grain lines which runs from the left edge all the way to the right edge of the limb in the working limb area.

 

[Zradix]

Thank you Ben.
That makes me feel a little better.

Here's some pics of the board.
Hope this works...1st time loading pics since the new system..

I plan on cutting the board to width and length about where the red lines are..

What do you think of it?
You think the limbs will twist because of the uneven growth rings?
First time I've done this...

 
 
 

[Zradix]

Should I taper it straight from the riser to the tips?
Or just the last 15" or so?

Thank you so much.

[John Scifres]

That looks like a great board.  Here is a tute that may help.

 http://sticknstring.webs.com/ferretsboardbow.htm

You can taper like in the tute or you can make a pyramid style which tapers right outside the fades.  Make sure and post pics along the way.

[Zradix]

Thanks John.
32 steps to success!
   

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Congrats on finding a great board. It's funny often times when looking for that perfect board your mind will play tricks on you and make not so great boards look better than they are.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Great find! That looks like a stellar board and should fair well. Once figure out what your profile will be go slow!

[LittleBen]

Yeah that's about as good as it gets for an oak board.

To answer your question about the taper ... I find that a straight taper from fades to tips is my favorite ... seems to keep limb mass down and make tillering the most simple. Either way will work but I would also second what John said and refer you to ferret's build along, or 4estTrekkers build along is good too.

[LittleBen]

First thing I look for in the board is grain and the second thing is nice thick latewood (the dense area), and thin earlywood (the porous weak pithy cr**). You nailed both of those. The grain is perfect and the rings look good too.

Nice thick rings and minimal porous wood will make for a denser and more elastic board

[Echatham]

Man I am GLAD you got you a board! haha that's exactly what i would be looking for in one. can't wait to see the build.    

[Draffish]

grats on finally finding a board, well worth the wait and effort you have put into getting it.
have fun making your bow and look forwards to seeing pics as you progress.

[Steve Kendrot]

That's a dandy board! You know what to look for so that's a good sign. Did you look over 4est Trekkers how to in the archives? An awful lot of people here have cranked out some nice first bows using his build along.

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000122

[Zradix]

Sure did buddy.
Made a couple changes to my layout because of it.
Mostly having the width tapers run into the handle.
..that made good sense...

Also the whole post is pure gold..learned a lot and keep looking back at it as I go.

[Zradix]

new favorite tool....
 

[Zradix]

It just happened...

...starting to get it..

This whole time since I've finally decided to START on some kind of bow I've had a "Crank it out..NOW" attitude.
.."how can I do this faster, easier, go go go".. Excited to be done and have my new trophy.

I've never been a wood worker. I've built some frames, mailbox posts, some BIG lincoln logs, and some other "rough construction" items.
..never anything like this.

Pushing that plane down my rough, bumpy, cut into sides of my bow was tedious at first. Didn't think I was going to continue down the "plane" route much longer.

But after quite a few strokes I could see and feel the edges forming up.
The surface becoming more flat and true.

The rhythmic sound of the plane running down the wood" ssshhhhrrriikk, ssshhhhrrriikk, ssshhhhrrriikk".

Watching the excess oak effortlessly curling away from my creation.

Feeling my body warm to comfort from the work while out in this 57˚ shop.

Yeah, it took me about a half hour to get one side of one taper almost done.....it was a great 30 mins!

There is a certain zen to it..the only thing I can really compare it to is when I learned to stop "shooting" my bow and slow down and feel the release...the moment.

This is good stuff guys.

Thank you for giving me confidence to start down the path.
...and in doing so having the chance to find the scenic route to my destination.

[Echatham]

yup... it happened all right... you're hooked. me too! hey.... did you see those locust staves that Troy D. Breeding has?... might have to score me one for later. already comitted to an osage self bow for the next build... but it won't be the last.

[Zradix]

Cool!...I just bookmarked that page..lol

[razorback]

Now your getting it. Hard to go too fast with a hand plane. Get it real sharp and tune the plane and that thing will do wonders for you.