Sapling Bow Project - Holly (green reduction)

[ber643]

Thanks, guys. Good advice, Pat, I'll pick up some shelac before I start, as I know the white glue I use would "wash" off, LOL.

[ber643]

I was advised by good friend, Pat B, to Shellac Hollyween's back for her, before trying to steam heat for bending, just in case she took a notion to crack, after the hydration. The shellac will stand the heat and steam, whereas the washable white glue I usually use, of course, would not. So I picked up a can on my way hunting (no luck again) yesterday evening, and "do-ed it to-ed it" this AM.      

 

[George Tsoukalas]

Bernie, good choice shellac is. Don't use glue on the back as it is hard to remove. Anyway, glad you are feeling better. Jawge

[ber643]

True, Jawge, that's why I went to that washable (scool) white glue (cheap at wWallyWorld, etc. too- especially when on sale), comes off easy with a wet or damp rag. However, now that i've broke down and bought shellac again (haven't dealt with it since high scool days), and re-familiarized with how easy and quick it is to use and dry, I'm sure I'll use it a lot more. What do you, personally take it off with? I also found they now have it in spray cans (who knew - LOL), and that would be easy to use outside on stave/sapling ends, etc., that aren't always so smooth, I'd think.

[Pat B]

Bernie, I use the spray shellac. It costs more but the convenience and longer shelf life makes it worth while to me.
  Shellac is cut with alcohol so it will dissolve again with alcohol. You can wipe it off with a rag saturated with alcohol after a couple of wipes. Also it is brittle so steel wool will work it off too...or add your ultimate finish over it. Shellac sticks to almost anything and almost anything sticks to shellac. If you are going to stain the wood the shellac will have to be removed.   Pat

[ber643]

Thanks, Pat - good scoop. I had read in the forums about the short shelf life of shellac. It figured that the spray would be more expensive but like you said, other considerations make it more practical in the long run, and no brushes, etc. I'm glad alcohol is the cutting agent. I used a sponge brush - sure went on nice, and didn't run either. Of course the brush is then really a "throw-away" - LOL but they are cheap too, and I keep them around.

[ber643]

This morning, I hitched up my trousers and tackled some steam bending attempts (my first) on Hollyween. With the bow back shellaced, I turned my attention to a dry run of the placement of the clamps, to bend the handle a little more, so I (and they) would be prepared after the steaming. That is a suggested proceedure, since time is at a premium to get your bow clamped how you want it, quickly after steaming. The upright 2x4s are to give me solid places to clamp for sidewards movement of the handle, and they are clamped in the portable work bench, behind the 4x4 side of the jaws and the original back jaw of the work bench. The horizontal 2x4 is wedged between the upright 2x4s and the two small trough-shaped forms, to keep them from sliding backwards when I apply the clamps. I think I have it set up OK to do what I hope to do. Doing the handle is just the first step, if it works, and then iIwill attempt to steam and bend each of the limbs, as needed, on other days:

 

Then I set up the steamer pot, and got the tinfoil ready to "tent" the bow(I'm told it doesn't have to be air tight - it is OK for some of the steam to escape - most of mine condensed on the tinfoil and went back into the boiling water below anyway. After boiling the water, I cut the heat down to keep it just at a simmering boil. Once the bow (and foil) was in position for the hour of steaming, I took a pic of the set-up, as it was starting the steaming process:

 

After an hour of boiling (check the water level now and then, and be careful - steam burns you quickly and badly), I quickly, swiftly, and delftly (Ha-ha, as best I could) got the bow clamped up in the way I had prepared to, and here is a pic of that. As suggested, I will leave it clamped for 24 hours, and hope for the best results:

 

[Dano]

Nice job Bernie, you didn't make a mess of Rose's kitchen did you?   :eek:

[ber643]

Just a little - but I cleaned it up -   :eek:      .

[ber643]

That attempt only partially work - not satisfactory to my desired results.
...........................

The evening before Thanksgiving, armed with more advice from friend Ryano, I found time to re-try steam bending Hollyween's handle. The only difference from the first/last attempt is a longer time in the steam bath. Well, I did switch to a tad larger pot but only because it is not my wife's very favorite one   :D   . I steamed the handle (as in the prior pic) for an hour and a half, instead of just an hour. Immediately upon tightening the most crucial clamp (to move the handle sideways), I could see, and feel ,the difference. As you said, Ryan, not quite like a wet noodle but certainly  closer to that in comparison than in the earlier attempt. Thursday evening at 8:30 it was time for the unclamping, and I was quickly adding thanks to the ones I'd expressed earlier in the day. The handle hardly moved at all from where I had hoped to move it to, and you can bet I was very pleased with the results. Another lesson learned.

Now about all I need to do, before getting on with the much delayed tillering (I think), is a little steam bending to one tip. I might finish her by next Halloween, yet   :p  .

[Linc]

Keep up the good work Bernie. You'll tame that witch yet.  

[ber643]

Trying my best, Linc, - with a lot of help from my friends, as they say - LOL.

[ber643]

While I am in the thros of changing over to a new computer (fortuitous Christmas sale price), I am also nursing the old one along enough to do some things/some days (more fun). So an update on Hollyween:

Finally got some steam heat bending to work on the handle, in my last update, so moved on to trying to do a similar proceedure on the twisted tips. The problem was, I had a couple of things that I needed to change. First I knew the wood would be softer after steaming, so I couldn't use the cresent (adjustable) wrench as before, without crushing the wood. Also I needed something heavier, to reflex the limb tip a little (on the tip of one, and a little further back on the other limb). I finally remembered an old tool I've had for eons - can't even remember where I got it. It is a combination pipe and or oil filter wrench that uses a length of web to do the griping, and the weight of the handle to apply the pressue/leverage. I was able to set it up pretty much like I did the cresent wrech but in different places. Below is a picture of the first tip and then I did it again (with different placement of clamps, etc.) for the other limb. Much to my pleasure it worked pretty well on both tips. One tip, I may have to do a little more on but, not if I get lucky, as I move into tillering. it may be awhile before I get to that, with all else that's going on. The bow looks considerably straighter now (still with plenty of "character" in her).

 

[KILLER B]

Do you have that tied to a rock on the floor?  And by chance is that a WORKBENCH there you have your rig setup on.  LOL  

[ber643]

Yep - guilty on both parts - LOL. I think perhaps whoever built those "WB"s didn't figure those of us who would buy them would be well versed enough to tell (or remember) what they were. The rock(s) are the heaviest things in the room - that are still portable - LOL.

Adjust, adapt, and overcome!

[Linc]

Bernie, Is that rock knappable?    Looks like it is to me.

[ber643]

Ha - the bottom one is a big chunk of our tough ol' NC Rhiolite (knappable with much strength, skill, and perseverance) but the top one is a beautiful piece of flint from the Cliffs of Dover, G.B. that my friend Chuck, "Snakewood" (and his Dad) found where some English ship dropped "ballast" in the Savanah river. I knapped one piece off it for his son, Cal, to remember his granddad with but the stone really belongs to Chuck. I just haven't sent it to Texas for him yet, after he moved. He was hoping to get back for ATAR again but gas prices and a TX tornado have precluded that so far.

[Linc]

RHIOLITE !!!!!!! I have a blue rhiolite nodule that I won't/don't want to try. That stuff is mighty hard. LOL.  I have a nodule of English flint that I'm leaving as is just because I like looking at it.  

[ber643]

Yeh, the Rhio was one of a number of good sized pieces given to me by a friend from Winston-Salem, NC He isn't into knapping or archery but he likes to gather old rocks with history. They actually own a trailer next door and we kind of keep an eye on it for them. I gave him a head I did.

[ber643]

I am getting back close to normal (physically that is) and should start up on Hollyween again soon (she's looking pretty good after the steam beding of the bow ends.) BTW here is a trick I found, for helping in that prceedure. I was trying to figure how to support the bow were only one end was over the pot on the stove, without it being in danger of falling off the pot. All the sudden it dawned on me to set my camera's adjustable mini-tripod on the counter beside the stove and set it at the proper height to support the other bow tip. Worked like a champ and never a slip, with the foam padded plate for the camera seat. Maybe it will help others too. I also almost have my puters (new and old back to normal as well - LOL)