Growth Ring Chase (power tool?)

[TomKatt]

I have always used a draw knife and scraper in the past , but have a bunch of osage staves that were cut in 96 about half of them have bark and the others have the bark removed and sealed but have borer holes several rings down this wood is hard and seasoned . it shure would save my shoulders if power tools were used to get close to the ring that I want any ideas ? power carvers , bandsaw , try to split to next ring, burn it and grab a better stave. 

[Wolftrail]

I have never used a scraper,  if someone gave me one it would fly into the garbage bin..   
For fine work I use a file or finishing sander with appropriate grit paper.  Draw knife is another tool I dont own,  i use a bowie knife or rasp.  If I have about 1/8" of material to remove I use the belt sander and/or rasp.  You can do a lot of damage on a bow quickly with a power tool.

[Flem]

Maybe something like this;

[Pat B]

You could bandsaw off the bark and sapwood then use the draw knife to get to your back ring. The problem with power tools is it doesn't take much to ruin your stave. If you are good with power tools and feel comfortable using them then go for it. Personally I'm not. Anyway you do it, the end justifies the means.

[TomKatt]

Thanks Pat  , I just grabbed a nasty stave that had the sap wood butchered and needed to go down 5-6 rings to clean it up , angle grinder 36grit flap sanding disk worked good down to bad spot now clean it up . thought about arebortech but at $150 I am too cheap so  flap disk it was then blow the dust around the yard

[BMorv]

Yeah I remember someone using an angle grinder to get to rings, but it looks like you have already discovered that.   

Was that quicker than just a drawknife?  I use a big drawknife when doing rough stave reducing, and I don't remember it taking very long to get to the ring I wanted. 

[Roy from Pa]

Flem, what the heck is that?

Looks like a kennym tool...

[Bowjunkie]

Wolftrail... never used a scraper and don't own a drawknife? I'm not sure what to say. Holy crap. Have you made a bow yet? lol. A selfbow? Maybe you make glass bows... or board bows. Trying to be funny, but don't mean to offend. I'm just a little shocked by that. But if I couldn't use cabinet scrapers or a drawknife, I'd just quit making selfbows from trees and staves altogether... seriously. But there's lots of ways to skin a kitty I guess.

TomKatt, when  I have to remove sapwood AND more than 1/2" or so of wood due to bug damage, checks or wind splits, I use the bandsaw to get the bulk of it... by following a single ring along the stave's edge, while bringing the piece to the saw at the needed skewed angle, from each side, so as to leave a prominent peak down the stave's center, and then sometimes run it into the bandsaw a third time to remove some of that peak... always cognizant of any humps, dips, valleys, raised knots and such that can be seen... in order to give them room. Any 'oops' or screw up means more 'good' rings that are sacrificed to bring the whole stave to a single unviolated one. But these are staves that might be junk, and I work quick, and that process generally takes less than 4-5 minutes and saves a LOT of drawknifing and playing with sanders and grinders. Then, if I've cleared it of those issues, I locate the deepest ring(which I usually consider 'one above the bow's back), grab the drawknife, and work down to it. You'll know real quick, with relatively little effort whether there's a bow under the bug damage, or checks, or whatever you're digging under.

The bandsaw must be a decent one, and properly set up and adjusted to do this with conviction.

I've tried other more and less aggressive tools... they're just not conducive to the best results when I'm trying to decide real quick whether there's a bow in there somewhere, or I should chop it up for firewood or handles and grab a different piece. Those other power tools also make it too difficult to keep track of where the growth rings are, and just don't keep me moving in a straightforward, efficient manner. I've tried splitting it off in big pieces, using a hatchet, axe, and both the flap sanding wheel and Lancelot(chainsaw chain) on the angle grinder.... great for other stuff, but a worthless waste of time for this, imo... and oh what a mess. Never again. I ain't playin around with that stuff no mo.

For me it's a bandsaw, then drawknife, then scrapers. Stand back! 

[Flem]

Flem, what the heck is that?

Looks like a kennym tool...

Never seen Kennym's tool. I believe thats called a bad a$$ pneumatic rolling pin. With grit!

[Wolftrail]

Wolftrail... never used a scraper and don't own a drawknife? I'm not sure what to say. Holy crap. Have you made a bow yet? lol. A selfbow? Maybe you make glass bows... or board bows. Trying to be funny, but don't mean to offend. I'm just a little shocked by that. But if I couldn't use cabinet scrapers or a drawknife, I'd just quit making selfbows from trees and staves altogether... seriously. But there's lots of ways to skin a kity I guess.

"Trying to be funny, but don't mean to offend."   Heck no..   I'm glad you posted that.

Have done wood working off and on for years, I use these tools because its what I'm accustomed to and more comfortable using them rather than a draw knife or scraper. I dont feel like I have good control with a Draw knife.  But thats just me.
I build mostly laminated wood bows and board bows roughly (20) in total.  I have made one Yew selfbow,  turned out just fine.   It had few knots ,curves, dips or wonky grain.  So tillering it out was quite easy.  On the flat areas I actually used a small hand plane.  The rough out was done mostly with the Bowie knife with the bow standing on end and lightly chopping at it.  When I got to a good floor tiller I used the rasp and removed the deep gouges with a file.
As far as a drawknife goes I will get one when I build a shaving horse.....   Here are a few photos of the yew selfbow,  66" NTN 40# @ 28.

[TomKatt]

Thanks Bowjunkie. I find that with a draw knife I only take one ring at a time and going down 5-6 rings was going to take more time than I wanted.  I will try the bandsaw on the next one , it seem's that I get the blade in a bind when cutting a 6 ft stave on the bandsaw , do you have any bandsaw tips ? blade size or way hold and control the stave it is hard to hold straight on the table with a triangular pieces of wood .

[Pat B]

Wood bow building isn't a foot race. Patience is one of your best tools when making wood bows.

[Forwardhandle]

I cut osage most winters so I have a lot of work threw out the summer I usaly split it and leave the bark on but coat it with natural Neem oil & never had a problem with boarers I have tried different power tools , bandsaw,angle grinder ,power file but really not much of a advantage to me , I use a swedish push knife to debark maybe 5 min.  & a combanation of different draw knifes working aganist the grain with verry sharp tools a must for me ,I stop and use a razor strap with jewlers ruge to keep them surgical sharp ,I can get down to the early wood right above the ring I want and use a scraper to get to the ring I want , if the stave is pretty knot free I can get to a clean ring in about 1:30-1:45 min
With that system the more I do the quicker I get but I think a lot of people have problems with not getting there knifes sharp enough it can really slow things down !

[kennym]

Wood bow building isn't a foot race. Patience is one of your best tools when making wood bows.

100% and I don't have enough of it...  Maybe when I get old as Roy ….

[Buemaker]

I have two of these pneumatic drumsanders from Grizzly,they are good, but make a lot of dust. I try to use them outside in summer.

[Roy from Pa]

Knock it off pap pap:)

[John Scifres]

Here's how I used to do it when I had a bunch to process at once: https://sticknstring.webs.com/roughout.htm

[Eric Krewson]

I bought an arbortech about 20 years ago when I was drawn knifing so much osage my fingers swelled up like sausages. It would cut wood fairly quickly but left such a rough surface it took about as much time to get everything smooth and leveled out as it would have taken to peel the save with a drawknife.

Then there was the dust, this thing threw a rooster tail.

[TomKatt]

Wood bow building isn't a foot race. Patience is one of your best tools when making wood bows.

 Thanks I am in no hurry , but after having rotator cuff surgery on both sides I am just trying to take it easy on my shoulders.
 Draw knife and scraper are still my favorite tools for chasing a growth ring , plus no rooster tails of dust that flap sander made a mess I can see what the arbortech would do .