Is there a bow in here?

[Steve Kendrot]

Just wondering what I have to work with here. I've got this stave ready to start something with, I am wondering if there is a bow in there or if anyone can give me some ideas what I should consider as I map this out...? Its got about 3" of natural reflex, but seems pretty straight.

 
 
 

I worked this one down to a growth ring (I think) mostly as practice. Is there something to work with here? Can it be straightened?

 

And finally, I have a bunch of plain sawn osage boards. Are the locations of these pin knots a fatal flaw for a BBO?
 

[Steve Kendrot]

Huh. I tried to resize and rotate those in PB. Didn't seem to work. By the way the pin knot photo runs side to side across the width of the bow.

[4runr]

If you're going to back it with boo, the pins are no problem.

On the stave, that bend is no problem to take out with a little dry heat once you work it down to floor tiller. It does not appear to me you have it all the way to 1 ring. That white wavey pithey looking stuff indicates a little scraping yet to do. Looks good so far, and, in my limited experience, it looks like there's a bow in there, just carefully take away everything that doesn't look like a bow!

[Whip]

Nice looking stave!  Those are some really large rings. I think Kenny is right - looks like there still might be a little work to get the back finished from what can be seen in the photos.
I think that will make a really fine bow!

[wingnut]

Yep there is a fine bow in there you just have to let it out.

The slat has a fatal problem, you could have lived with one pin by putting it to the bamboo side but with two pins, it's best to use it for handles, powerlams, etc.

Mike

[George Tsoukalas]

I'm confused. The stave in the first 3 pics look like no heating is needed. In the last pic it looks like a huge sideways  bend. Here are  a couple of things to think about. That back has several ring violations.  You'll have to chase to one heartwood ring.  Forget about that string when laying the bow out. Instead follow that vertical grain with a pencil right down the middle. Leave the handle full width and the nocks an inch wide initially so that you can track the string better. If you want I can elaborate later. Third, floor tiller so that the wood is thinned enough to bend if you heat.
Looks like a challenging build for a beginner. Jawge

[brettlandon]

Better minds than mine have been spoken here.  The best advise I can offer is GO SLOW.  Take your time, try your very best and ask for help as you need it.  You'll be a bowyer in no time.
   

-Brett

[NorthShoreLB]

Check out the 3rd ring down for a wicked back  

[Osagetree]

You don't get rings on osage like that in Maryland. I see three bows in the pics! If,,, you have enough length below the pin nots on the slat. Make a short HBO for a young fellow! Hickory is cheap and easy.

[Steve Kendrot]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am a beginner (this will be my first self bow) and I am going slow. I've been scratching my head over these staves for about 6 months now. I'm worried they are too dry. Dean's book advocates steaming, straightening etc when the stave is still green if I read the book correctly. Is dry heat the way to go at this point? These staves were cut in March or April of last year and have been drying in my shed since.

I also have about 30 plain sawn osage boards .75" think and 6' long and 8-15" wide. I've only just begun to rip slats out of them but I'm already beginning to understand the need to learn the Z splice. Finding a 65" clean slat is going to be a challenge!

I found chasing a ring pretty difficult. I tried to leave the brown pithy ring as the surface while working the bow with the understanding that it is scraped off to the clear yellow ring in the final stages. But it's thin and disappears with the slightest stroke of my spokeshave and runs screaming a the sight of my drawknife..   :(

George- what you call the heartwood ring... would that be the clear yellow or the brown pithy ring? The yellow is what I want for the back correct?

I'm hoping the appearance of ring violations is an artifact of the pith breakthroughs, but I believe I may have considerable work to do on the straighter reflexed stave. The thought of going three rings down is a depressing one after all the work it took to get to where I did!

Is 3" of reflex too much? It looks like it'd make a dang good rocking chair.

Does hickory backing need to be tapered like bamboo?

Man... so many questions!

[Steve Kendrot]

Oh, and if what Mike says is true, I will have enough wood for about 3,000 longbow handles!

[Steve Kendrot]

ttt

[John Scifres]

There's almost no way that they are too dry to make a bow.  In fact, unless they were taken to a ring the whole time, they probably aren't dry enough.  If you mean too dry to steam, I'd guess you would be better off with a heatgun.

Heartwood is the dark stuff in the middle of the tree.  This is surrounded by light stuff called sapwood and then by the bark.

Earlywood (Spring growth) is the porous light stuff in between the darker latewood (Summer growth) that lies within the heartwood.

You want the best latewood ring you can chase.

You really need to determine if you have ring violations.  If it is on the stave above with the thick rings, I'd say that is almost impossible.  Got a pic?

3" isn't bad but it sure makes floor tiller and the first few pulls more difficult.  Also, your ealy draw weight will be a lot higher.  For your fist bow, I'd like to see something a little less.

Hickory backing should be tapered a bit too.

[wingnut]

On the slats, a clear 36" is much easier to find then 70".  "Z" splicing is very easy and can be learned in 5 minutes, perfected in a year or so.  LOL

Go through the boards looking for 36" clear sections that have straight grain running end to end.  They will make Great bows.

You out to come on out to MoJam in July and we'll work a couple up.

Mike

[Steve Kendrot]

MOJam sounds like fun... its a 15 hour drive though. Doable with a road trip buddy though. Anything similar closer to the Washington DC area?

I'll take some better pictures of the back of the first stave. I am pretty sure I did not chase a ring on that one. It was still green when I removed the sapwood and I was lifting/tearing shreds that were making me nervous so I decided to wait until it was a little drier and I got some advice. I'll try to take pics or make a movie to scan the surface next week when I'm back at my shop. I really had a hard time following the ring on the one I did chase. Made great fire starter for this seasons wood burning though!

I've got a few other staves with the bark on still.

[Jason Lester]

Steve,

   Like John said put the reflexed one away untill you gain some experience. The flatter one or the slats is where I would start.

There are some good people around you that could give you a hand. Look up in the directory the people around you. One that comes to mind is Clay Harrison. He helped me get started and though he doesn't claim to know everything he knew where to go for help when we got stuck. He's fairly close to you. (I used to live in MD and in WV) He lives in Northern VA.

There are others there too.