Well, at least he was good for a laugh. I have a feeling his name will be popping up for years to come. Maybe someday he'll even find the batteries in his wife's underwear drawer....
Started on Plan C. Or is it A? Back in January I posted a locust stave I had roughed out and set to dry in the living room near the fireplace. So, that was originally plan A. But then I decided to use some two year old hickory. That became the new plan A, or maybe plan B depending on how you count. I figured plan C was BBI like I did last year. Well, plan A (or was it B?) was moving along nicely, but came in too light. I tried to pike it, but still couldn't quite make weight and it was starting to take a set.
Well, I had the split from that same hickory stave staring at me. Was a bit thin and I wasn't sure about a few parts of it. But I decided to give it a whirl. New plan B. Or maybe plan D? That progressed along quickly, but I realized I just couldn't get the width I needed out of it to make weight without a lot of set.
Ok, briefly going back to plan C (or plan A, or A prime, or maybe we give it a whole new letter and call it E?) I seriously considered adding sinew to the first hickory stick. That should help. But it seems that with hickory it should be adding something to the belly instead. Scrap that (for now.) Back to the real plan A, also known now as plan F. As in, "This better F'ing work!" The locust stave came out to the bench.
My hesitation with black locust is that I've only worked hickory staves up until now. I heard BL can be touchy and fret if you're not careful. And I tend to get in a hurry. Last night I chased my first ring. That was interesting, but I lucked out and made it successfully from one end to the other without damaging anything. I really like working BL. It also feels solid and indestructible. The thing has a lot of natural reflex (almost 2 inches), but also a lot of twist -- maybe 25 degrees per limb. So I brought it to where it was starting to flex a little and then put the heat to it this morning:
I'll let it cool and then try the other end. I figure if I can get it straight this weekend, I can let it rehydrate during the week and I have two full days next weekend to try to get it knocked out (carefully.) Wish me luck...
Topic: TG BOW SWAP 2012 (pics and post) (Read 64107 times)
