First Bow Build.. Bendy Osage Bow Buildalong

[jeremy1517]

I received my Osage bow Stave from John at Hedgerow Selfbows, Thank You John.  I need any help I can receive. This is my First attempt to build a bow.

I will post progress pics and questions as I go along. John has been an awesome help but I don't want to pester him with all my questions.

First question. Which side of the stave should be the back of the bow and which is the belly?  (I know, stupid question, but I want to be sure). John has already done work to the stave. John said the back of the bow (part that faces away from you when drawing the bow) has a ring chased. He says the belly shows the grain.

Can anyone tell from these pictures which is the back (chased side) or which is the belly (grain side)

The first two pics are of the same side:

   

   


This is a picture of the other side:

   


Any thoughts?

[mwosborn]

First two are the back.

[jeremy1517]

For future knowledge, how can you tell?

[takefive]

You can see in the bottom picture (the belly) where the grain has what looks like waves or islands.  That's where he cut thru the rings to take wood off tillering it for you.  You won't see that on the back where he has it scraped down so it's inside one ring the whole length of the bow.  Does that make sense?  Good luck to you, go slow, and ask lots of questions as you go along.  First bow you make is easily the most confusing and there are a lot of experienced hands on this forum.  Sometimes I almost wish I was one of them    

[Bowjunkie]

Good explanation, Takefive.

Jeremy, as you work on this bow, make sure you work only the belly side. You should remove no wood from the back as you tiller because if you do, you'll cut through the growth ring that is the bow's back. When that happens, there's a good chance it will break there.

To the experienced here, such things seem obvious, but I took it for granted once that a guy knew it, and when I returned to check on him, he had worked both the back and belly, and the stave was ruined... so I'm just throwing it out there... better safe than sorry.

Best of luck with your bow, and I look forward to following along with you.

[jeremy1517]

Knock help?


Can anyone give me any advice or knowledge on how to cut in the knocks on each end?

[John Scifres]

Here's what I do.  Measure 1/2" or so from the tip and mark that across the back with a pencil.  Draw a 45 degree angle from that line to the belly.  Using a circular file (chainsaw files are good) cut the nocks deep enough to completely hold the string.  As you cut, compare each side to make sure they are in line with each other.  Repeat for the other limb.

If you are using a bow string that goes over the tip, you will need to leave the top limb a little longer past the nock so measure 3/4" for that one.

[jeremy1517]

Does it matter which is the top and bottom of a stave?  How do I choose?

[John Scifres]

On that piece, not really.  Some staves have a bend to one side and some folks like to leave the string on the left side for a right hand shooter, or vice versa for lefties as a sorta center shot attempt.

[jeremy1517]

Thanks John, so do you think I should cut the top knock at 3/4 instead of 1/2?  

Also, since the limb is thin, should I just make the knock deep enough to cover the string?  I've read the standard is an 1/8 to a 1/4 deep.  1/4 seems to much

[John Scifres]

If you are using a tip stringer then yes.  If you are push pulling to string or using a limb stringer then no.

I make my nocks just deep enough for the string.

Heck, my tips are less than half inch wide so 1/4" deep on each side would be a little difficult  

[John Scifres]

Oh yeah, thickness (thick v. thin) refers to the measurement from back-to-belly.

Width (narrow v. wide) refers to the measurement from side-to-side.

When you say "thin", I think you mean narrow, correct.

[jeremy1517]

Yes, sorry

[John Scifres]

No "sorry" needed.

[jeremy1517]

Making a knock, do I put a groove into the back of the stave as well as the sides?

[jeremy1517]

Here's some knock pics. On the bottom side, I marked the top at 1/2 from tip on each side, drew a 45 Deg line from the back to the belly.

On the top side, I marked the top at 3/4 from the tip on each side, drew a 45 deg line from the back to belly.

Once done, I drew lines from all the points to make sure all sides are uniform.  I plan on using a tip bow stringer so the top notch is at 3/4 instead of 1/2.

Question is does this look correct so far?
Also, Do I make groves on all the lines? Across the front, the sides, and on the back?  

Top, side view
   


Bottom, side view
     

[John Scifres]

No groove on the back.

[John Scifres]

On the first pic, is the back on the right?  It should be.

[jeremy1517]

So just the sides?

Anything on the belly?

Do I need to slightly round the edge of the groove towards the back side (side facing away from me when bending the bow)or just make the grooves on the sides and don't touch anything on the back side?

[John Scifres]

Tell ya what Jeremy, if you can hold off until tomorrow, I will put together a co-buildalong with a very similar bow and we can do this together.