Look what followed me home from Denton Hill

[jsweka]

Now what the heck does this glass bow guy do?

 

 

 

 

[Razorbak]

now that is sweet looking stave..if you can make glass bows then your more than 1/2 way there on making a stick bow..looking forward in seeing what your gonna make

[Echatham]

better get yourself a gooseneck scraper for those convave rings

[kennym]

John, you gotta quit hangin wif Roy, man!!

[jsweka]

One bow I don't have and have yet to try is a self bow, so I was on the lookout for a stave while at Denton Hill this weekend.  Got a good price on it.  The guy had a couple and I went with the straightest one with no noticeable knots, but I am a little scared of those rings.  I do have a gooseneck scraper which will definitely come into use.

Not sure yet if I'll start it soon or wait till after hunting season.

Kenny - I figure if I make a shootable selfbow, that old man won't be able to give me any more crap.  He's only one ingredient away from doing glass bows now  

[razorback]

Now what the heck does this glass bow guy do?

You could always send it to me  

I'm working on a Hickory stave that I got at Denton Hill last year, at the moment. Going to be my swap bow. Good luck with that one, should be a tonne of fun.
With comments like those Roy may get off his old skinny a@#e and do something about that thumpin list of his.

[kennym]

Yeah, I tole him he was this... close to goin glass!!  

[D]

Roy is getting so old he has forgotten where his thumpin list is...lolol  

Good luck on the stave though.  I'm sure you will handle it just fine.  Got to post pics though.

[Roy from Pa]

John, that is a tuff stave for a rookie. Those rings are very thin. Go slow. You might want to consider backing it. But wait for the selfbow experts to give you advice here.

What is glass? LOL

[John Scifres]

That third heartwood ring down looks pretty chaseable.  Start by going after the first couple and by the time you get to your desired ring, you'll have plenty of practice and know what the stave does.

Here's a roughing out tute I did a while back.

 http://sticknstring.webs.com/roughout.htm

[Kris]

 

Now what the heck does this glass bow guy do?

Learn and have fun...it's addicting for sure!  Post again when finished.

Best of luck -

Kris

[Black Mockingbird]

+1 what john said...

Go slow...take pics and ask any questions here before you move on to the next step...do you remember who ya got it from? A couple of my buddies were selling/trading osage there...I thought about bringing some,but didn't wanna deal with the hassle etc..n glad I didn't due to sat evenings wash out

[goobersan]

looks awesome John !! good luck

[MoeM]

Nice stave I´ll follow this project also John...

[Paul/KS]

Read a couple of books about building selfbows then take your time using what you learned...

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks good. Watch those dips in the rings. There's ing=fo on my site too. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/osage.html

[jsweka]

Well, I tore into it tonight.  Removed the bark and the sap wood on one end and tried chasing a ring on the end I showed in the pic.  It didn't go very well and I think they are way too close for a first try at a self bow.  Spent three hours on that dang thing and made it about 8 inches with three ring violations already.  Backing will be needed.

So if I wanted to turn this thing into a BBO, can I simply rip the back on a bandsaw or run it over a jointer to get a flat surface to glue the bamboo to?

In those three hours I spent trying to chase a ring, I developed a whole new respect for you selfbow guys              I honestly don't know if I have the patience for this type of bow and I already had thoughts of running that sucker through my bandsaw to make laminations for a glass bow.      

[Black Mockingbird]

It takes patience and practice at chasing rings...most experienced guys could run a ring on that stave in under 30 mins easily,and maybe 5 mins in a race...and welcome to the world of "real" bow making       are there any self bow guys semi close to you to help ya out firsthand?

[Roy from Pa]

It is quite different, John.

[jsweka]

I had at it again tonight.  I tried the other end figuring I had enough length to lop off the end I screwed up last night.  Same result    :(     Those growth rings are just way to thin for this rookie to tackle.  Maybe I'll rip it into a board someday and make me one of them Ole Roy bows.  Or I could always cut it up for some nice overlays on a glass lam bow