First Osage self Bow (progress) (Finished up 05/12)

[ber643]

Yep - a lot of good, jermaine comments about the Caul after the teut too.

[Eric Krewson]

You don't need a caul for correcting sideways bends. I have a post bolted to the end of my workbench that I use to support my stave when I am rasping. I also use it for heat bending.

I adjust my vise(swivel type)so the stave is slightly over the inside edge of the post, heat the stave, bend it a little so it slips down to the side of the post, them continue to heat the stave and add shims between the stave and the post to move it in the direction I want it to go.

The picture shows my post location.

 

[ber643]

That's interesting, Eric. Are you referring to the (looks to be about a 2"x3") piece that has the dark brown top, affixed to the near end "leg" of your bench (that the bow isn't touching in this pic)?

[ber643]

Mike and I did get together at his shop yesterday afternoon to make a little more progress with my current (and first) Osage self bow. We also got to do a little shooting while the bow was cooling down. we were shooting a couple of Mike's fine osage bows and it reminded me that I've been meaning to show you some of his fine work. Kinda points up well why I trust and respect him as my mentor too. So, I'll take a short break here to show a couple pics of mike's work, before I return to my progress pictorial, - this is the "Naughty Knotty" Osage stave he is currently taming:

 

   

This is one of the bows we were shooting and it is a sweet shooting, virtually no shock, fast, piece of joy to shoot - not to mentiion a beautiful work of art that my pics can't even begin to do full justice- IMO He coaxed this one out some over a year ago (the bottom isn't really that much darker than the top - BTW):

 

Here is a close up of that gnarly knot hole that is the Back (target side) of his grip. Mike rests his finger tip in there, lightly (my fingers are a little long for that but it's very comfortable in hand anyway:

 

I'll be back to post the progress pics on my bow. Hope you'll look back in.

[Whip]

Keep it coming Bern - I love watching that yellow wood get worked    Looking forward to seeing you put the heat to her and get the string lined up.  You've sure got a good teacher!

[slayer1]

Lookin good Burnie!

[ber643]

Thank you, Whip and slayer1, I appreciate it.

Well, as someone said, it was time to go to a big file on my Osage. At Mike's suggestion I opted for Shure Forms (flat and curved) instead, as I had quite a bit of wood still to remove from handle area and limbs to even get to the "bendable with heat" state. Here you can see that, after I took the handle sides down closer to line, and got started on one limb:

 

Those rascals ("cheese grater" tools) can flat move some wood, and I was getting into it - while watching closely and judging high/low spots by running my thumb and forefinger of opposite hands, on each edge at the same time, as Mike had showed me. Of course I had to be careful to follow all the "whoopties" and twists and turns Though not too many on this nice stave - it's fascinating to me to see the bow beginning to take shape more and more with each pass:

 

 

 

(more in next post)

[ber643]

After working the bow down in thickness enough to get some lateral movement out of it ,we were ready to attemp some heat bending. We hoped to move the handle closer to a mid-line first, so that when we get to moving the (thinner) limb areas, they won't have to be moved so far. I must apologize at this point for getting no pictures during the heating and bending of the handle area. Since it was my first attempt, I was too, too busy paying attention (and being amazed), to even think about taking pictures (and Mike was too busy keeping a watchful eye on me - LOL). I promise I will get some pics when we do the limb areas, and a twist that must be straightened out a little. Though Mike has (and showed me) a number of Cauls that he uses for various bendings, "my bends" we were able to work on by using the bench vice, clamps and wedges/shims/pads, and the heat gun. (Much in the same manner as Eric describes above, though I like his "work bench post" idea that he uses.) As you can see in the next pic, we were successful in moving the handle (neatly, and with only a slight scorch, which I have pleanty of room to remove) and it really puts the limbs in a much better alignment with the axis/centerline of the bow - especially if you compare it with similar pics of the stave/bow, from earlier in this thread. I'm pumped! The darkness of the handle is not the scorch (just a small one on the other side) but is from the Crisco we used to help conduct the heat into the interior wood, and to protect the wood.

 

Thanks for eyeballing. Next session I'll work on the limb areas (laterally), and the twist (if it still presents a problem) .

[whitebuffalo]

Looking good bud,, I hope to do one also,,J

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Bernie, Are ya gonna have that baby ready for ATAR???   Lookin Good Sir.      

[drewsbow]

Nice work Bernie , looking good :0)      

[ber643]

Thanks Jason, Kenny (I hope before Hickory even), and Drew. I appreciate the comments and encouragement.

[fxe]

Looking sweet Bernie!Thanks for sharing.

[brettlandon]

Bernie, you are definitely following the cardinal rule of selfbows... take it slow.  I am really enjoying your pictures and the story they help represent.  Keep it coming!

-Brett

[ber643]

Thanks, fxe and brett. Yeah, I wish i could do more but I think it helps me to kind of let it sink in between sessions. I think I also get to enjoy the progress more taking it slowly. On the other side of the hill though, I wish that cold molasses that's running up the hill in the wintertime would let me catch up to it just a little bit -    

 

[ber643]

OK, Got to do some more Osage bending this past weekend, and I'll update, as promised. However, first I want to show you a little bonus of another new bow Mike is working on. I got to help him "shoot it in" some, while waiting for my bend work to cool on my stave. The new one is a sweet little Bamboo Backed Osage, Osage Tip overlays, Poplar and Massandruba handle, 51# @ 27" (it was about 44# at my 25 1/2 or so). Mike says it still shows some extra stiffness in the bottom limb (he wanted it a little stiffer than the top limb) but we both felt it behaves and shoots so well, and comfortably that he may not do much more than sanding work now. I really loved the bow's feel, quickness, and accuracy, and he liked the chance to see it shot by someone other than just him, so he could stand back and eyeball it in action.

Mike at Full Draw:

 

New Bow at Brace:

 

(See next post for update/pics)

[ber643]

Now, on with my Osage Self bow. You'll recall, we moved the handle over to make for less bending of the limbs (hopefully). Next step is to move one limb over (laterally) in line with the handle. The vice holds the other tip within it's handle area, and we shimmed and clamped near the bow's handle. We'll grease and heat the mid portin of the limb (to The right) and then clamp it a little further over than we hope it will settle after cooling:

 

Now greased, heated, and clamped:

 

That having worked out very well, we set up to work on the opposite limb. This one needs the tip moved over laterally (like the other one) but we also hope to reflex the end some (to match the natural reflex in the opposite limb) and twist (with a padded cresent wrench) the outter portion of the limb a little - all at the same time, after heating and greasing. This time I will be heating The outter portion of the limb rather than the center. A little trickier moves, and we can only hope for the best results:
 
 


Fancier (more convoluted - LOL) clamping and bracing on this limb/tip:

 

Again I was blessed (and well guided by Mike's previous experience), although a little more reflex might have been nice - we'll see about that later. After cooling period and unclamping, we ran a center line (using a Chalk line string), and you can see (in the the pic below) we now have a pretty pleasing center line, on a fairly straight stave, (with some "whooptie" character places - LOL) Both Mike and I were very pleased:

 

Next session I'll take the sides of the bow in to the layout lines, pretty much to where I would like them to be in the end.

[BMN]

Looking good. I'm watching closely as I'm in the middle of my first osage bow as well. Keep it coming.

Bill

[ber643]

Thank you and best of luck (and skill) to you also BMN. Ain't it great fun and satisfaction?

[BMN]

Yes Bernie it is great fun. I've started tillering and progress is slow. It's looking ok so far. I think it might actually become a bow but I still have my fingers crossed. Looking forward to watching your progress. Thanks for sharing.

Bill