a bow for bernie

[broketooth]

i decided to go to the second ring down from the sapwood. its takeing me a little time. i used the opportunity to follow semo hunter's tutorial vids to learn howto use my spokeshave. wow what a way to chase a ring. very cool stuff. its been cool enough in my unheated shop that my camera is unwilling to coopperate . i should have some pics tomorrow. ruddy

[ber643]

Yes, I enjoyed (and learned from) those videos too (links in Kelly's current build thread). If you've not had luck with a Spoke Shave, check them out, by all means. Gotta get mine sharpened up and ready.

Last night and today I'm not surprised your camera is balking, Ruddy. Got down to 10 degrees here last night and then dropped one more at sunup, before increasing today. Struggled to get just above 40. I meant to ask, what camera are you using for your shop pics, BTW (it's doing a good job)?

[broketooth]

bernie my camera is a 9 yr old heylett packard camera only 5 mgp. when i bought it it was a $ 400 camera plus an extra$100 for the memory card. ruddy

[KellyG]

That Spoke shave is easier on the hands. You just have to get is sharp unlike the drawknife. SEMO_HUNTER has brought back a tool for us all I think. I still am working on getting mine sharp enough. It is new out of the package and the blade is not very sharp but a couple of passes on that sand paper it is close.
Can't wait to see what you got Ruddy.
Kelly

[ber643]

Mine is a little younger but 4mgp (Kodak Z700 aprox $2oo). Thanks, just curious because you had mentioned mine taking good pics. I know HP makes other good products (have a scanner & printer), didn't know they made cameras.

Back to bows    

[broketooth]

im cold and tired this stave does not want to let go of any of it early wood. in the future when i get a stave i will definately chase a ring and seal it with shellac. when its still drying it lets go of wood so much easier. if have done this early on in the 2 peice ive built, i remember how much easier it was to chase a ring. im also guessing it doesn;t take much to remember either lol. ruddy

[KellyG]

lol

[ber643]

I imagine you are cold in that garage - you need one of those heaters they use at construction sites. My back room "glory hole" is even too cold to (seriously) think about going in there and getting started these days. -    :(

[broketooth]

ok  fellas i hit it hard today. i finally got that ring in pristine condition. i also got a profile layed out on the stave. it is a basic pyramid design. 4" handle with 3" fades  64" long  1 3/4"wide tapering to 5/8" for now at the tips.i left everything a little wide for now. but we will get it perty.

[broketooth]

time to rough it out. here im gettin ready to do a belly split. for now i want a 2" deep handle so i made a mark 2" from the back at the handle and started my split.

[broketooth]

next we to to use the drawknife and srart roughing out the profile look what i found bernie. that worm was a tastey afternoon snack    it went great with the tortilla chips i was eatin. lol

[KochNE]

Ruddy (and everyone else doing their stave build-alongs, for that matter),

Thanks for takin the time to photograph & document all this.  I'm going out to cut some osage of my own in a week or two, and the pictures really help to fill in the details that would've just been guesswork otherwise.  Probably saved me from ruining half a tree!

Looks good so far!

P.S.  Don't be complaining about the cold!  We just got another 6 or 7 inches of that white stuff in your last few pictures that's trying to call itself 'snow'.  

-Tyler

[ber643]

You have been a busy, and productive, "beaver" today, my friend. Good coverage with the pics too (is Vicki your Photographer?). Looks like you did a good job on the split, how did you feel about it?

Sure a lucky thing that fat weasel of a worm stayed outside the "bow area" and probably a good thing the stave got put to the knife now rather than later in view of his apparent eating habits. (You sure you didn't feed that worm to the "Purp Dog"? I'll bet he'd a torn that fat rascal up in a hurry.) Sure glad you uncovered him early on, bud.

Tyler - we don't even want to try to compare with Nebraska's weather/snow - we don't even like what we got. Besides our blood is thinned out down here, and we have to complain about what we have to complain about -        :D

[broketooth]

one of my favorite tools to rough shape the pyramid profile of a bow is a farriers rasp.  . it removes wood in a hurry but in a safe manner not causing a big tear in your profile. . more pics tomorrow

[1oldbowguy]

Looks good, I just can't get enough of these builds, seems like I learn more and more with each one.  Thanks!!!

[red hill]

Looks good, Ruddy.  Interesting to see a "belly split".
Here's a question.  I'm trying to shape up a "green" osage stave. Just took the bark off this past weekend and sealed with shellac.  This afternoon I began taking off the white wood down to the "yellar" wood.  Should I seal the exposed heart wood as I progress, or wait until the entire length of the stave has been reduced?
  :confused:  
Stan

[broketooth]

go to a good ring. get it to start to bend, and i mean barely. seal the back and the ends  and stick it in your attic until fall it should be ready to at least start floor tiller then. use shellac . ruddy

[Pat B]

Boy, are you hooked!!! You have become an osage bow building machine and I will take some of the responsibility for that!  d;^)

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Good job Ruddy! You work fast!

That spoke shave works wonders when you get it hummin just right. I've gotten good enough with mine that I can strip rings right down the the soft wood in between the rings, and then go back with my scraper to clean the soft stuff off slick and quick! I can chase a ring in 1/3 of the time it used to take me. I wish I woulda had this tool 6 months ago.

About those worms.......there is an insect (dont' remember what the name is) that lays it's eggs in the bark of the hedge tree. They lay dormant until it's time to hatch and start eating. You probably won't see them when you bring it home and the stave will appear to be clean, when it may actually be full of eggs.
Then over time while your storing it, the eggs hatch and the worm starts to burro all through your pristine stave turning it into swiss cheese.

The only way to defeat this is to strip the bark and sapwood first thing when you get it home. Get it down to the yella wood and seal it. Because the worm eggs are underneath the bark. I found this out the hard way.

And look here what my dad found just this evening while splitting some red oak for the wood stove.

 

Yep, them are worms! Nasty looking little buggers.
I bet they would make good fishing bait?
Do these look familiar Ruddy?

[broketooth]

yep thats them, i ate mine though. ruddy