2020---->What did ya do today?

[Crooked Stic]

I think you would be fine without carbon. But I use it. I do two wraps of glass then the carbon. Then when you are shaping and get down to seeing carbon you know where to stop. And its gonna be stronger to.

[mtblucas]

I guess I’ll order some carbon from Jim as well then. Probably don’t need it but I like overbuilding stuff.

[flyonline]

That black is a couple of drops of left over Aluminite dye used for stabilizing. Jim sells some powder he uses to dye his resin. I have used leather dye even a couple of drops of Rit will work.It dont take much.

Have you had issues with structural integrity of the resin using non-resin specific dyes? I tried casting resin lures with pigments and ran into issues using other dyes.


Roughed out an osage stave that I've had sitting around for a while. It's well aged even before I got it so it's completely moisture stable, though it does have quite a few cracks in the back at the moment. Whether I can get below/around them and still have enough wood to work with only time (and skill or lack thereof) will tell. I'll have to steam it to get the tips into something like alignment so I may have go at doing a full recurve at the same time. A possibly interesting side note is that our borers here don't seem to attack the heartwood, though they will make mince meat of the sapwood.

Also managed to sneak a couple of lengths of some local bloodwood (accacia species) for a try as a selfbow from some roadside vegetation clearing. I've heard goodish things of it, so hopefully something will come out. Has much lighter sapwood and dark heartwoos much like osage. One should be good for a couple of staves, but the other will probably be only good for a sapling type bow.

Finally got my A into G and cleared up my workbench. I had to stop only because I was worried about the garbage truck not being able to lift the bin   

Steve

[Crooked Stic]

Steve the Aluminite dye is used for casting and stabilizing. It takes such a small amount to. I have had no troubles so far.

[Flem]

You can mix a variety of pigments into epoxy without issue. But you have to be careful of the amount added and the carrier the pigment is dispersed in. It's recommended to not exceed 3% of the total resin weight. I have used UTC's, powdered earth pigments, Transtint dyes and specific colorants for epoxy.
No problems.

[ztontonz]

This is the stuff I got from a local hobby shop. Just a little thinner than auto resin.

Are using it as wood filler or for your TD sleeve?

[Pat B]

Looking at the checks in your stave they don't seen to run off the edge of the stave so they shouldn't be a problem, only a cosmetic situation. Fill them with super glue and continue on. Reduce the stave to floor tiller stage then do your heat corrections first before adding the super glue.I don't think trying to make all the heat corrections and recurving at one time is a good idea. I would first get the stave as straight as you want it then add the recurves so they line up with the bow. Also, it's obvious that the stave is seasoned but is it dry enough to build a bow. I know Australia is in a drought but depending on where in Oz you are it may not be bow building dry. What is the R/H there?
 On the other staves, seeing the deep checks in the end of the stave and the discoloration I'm wondering just how sound they are. It may not be an issue in Oz but here in the US, especially in the Eastern half any wood that has been on the ground that long would, IMO be worthless as a viable bow wood.
 I don't know how close you are to the fires and I hope you are not close and are safe, fire killed/hardened wood could be an option for viable bow wood if you have access to it.

[Crooked Stic]

Sam it is a 50/50 mix so just for wood filler. The sleeve resin is 2 resin and 1 hardener. I think Jims stuff is 3/1

[Roy from Pa]

Jeremy stopped over this morning to work on his first bow build.

Got it glued up about 11 AM.

The deer came to visit too:)

[Crooked Stic]

Fatten them deer up for next season Roy.

[kennym]

Dang Elroy ! You move to FL??

 


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[Roy from Pa]

We've had very little snow this year but lot of rain.

[kennym]

We’ve had both , ready for spring here!

[monterey]

Me too.   We've had 28" between November 30th and December 31st but none since then.   February and March are our big snow months.   Then my "shop" looks like yours, Kenny , except there's no building. 

[Flem]

Don't look like winter here either. Been in the 40's for 2 weeks. I don't mind.

[flyonline]

You can mix a variety of pigments into epoxy without issue. But you have to be careful of the amount added and the carrier the pigment is dispersed in. It's recommended to not exceed 3% of the total resin weight. I have used UTC's, powdered earth pigments, Transtint dyes and specific colorants for epoxy.
No problems.

Steve the Aluminite dye is used for casting and stabilizing. It takes such a small amount to. I have had no troubles so far.

There you go, I must have gone over some magic number to have issues!

Looking at the checks in your stave they don't seen to run off the edge of the stave so they shouldn't be a problem, only a cosmetic situation. Fill them with super glue and continue on. Reduce the stave to floor tiller stage then do your heat corrections first before adding the super glue.I don't think trying to make all the heat corrections and recurving at one time is a good idea. I would first get the stave as straight as you want it then add the recurves so they line up with the bow. Also, it's obvious that the stave is seasoned but is it dry enough to build a bow. I know Australia is in a drought but depending on where in Oz you are it may not be bow building dry. What is the R/H there?

Pat

That check I went through was what looked the deepest/worst and I only took half a dozen rings off, so I should be good to get below it. I did think about leaving the worst in, but they'd be full of dirt and gunk, so I don't know how well the CA would hold up. It had been down so long the sapwood and bark had completely rotted off. RH? Dunno, but it won't be high -  the osage has been stored inside in relatively stable temps/RH for a few years now.

That was the plan with steaming, get it straight first then worry about putting in some bend at the tips. So far it looks like I'll be bending in different places to straighten and recurve the tips so hopefully not re-heating the same area!

On the other staves, seeing the deep checks in the end of the stave and the discoloration I'm wondering just how sound they are. It may not be an issue in Oz but here in the US, especially in the Eastern half any wood that has been on the ground that long would, IMO be worthless as a viable bow wood.
 I don't know how close you are to the fires and I hope you are not close and are safe, fire killed/hardened wood could be an option for viable bow wood if you have access to it.

Those staves have been down for a matter of a week or two as I drove past them every day on my way to work, the mid-trunk cut I made is sound so I suspect I just need to lop a bit off the original cut and seal well.

As for fires, we're within site (maybe 15km/10 miles?) of the fire front. We had a months worth of rain last week so they've been knocked on the head for the moment but we still have 6 weeks of possible 40C/100F plus days so it will be going until the depths of winter. As for standing timber, I'm aware of only one species that is truly viable locally and it grows in the wetter gullies so may have escaped. Plus, some bloke going around knocking over trees in a national park will no doubt be frowned upon  I do have my eye open for any that end up coming down though.....

[4 point]

Glued up a bow with some apple veneers. Aired it up really slow, 10 pounds at a time because I worried they might split but the they still did. Oh well, minor cosmetic flaw.

[ztontonz]

Beautiful veneer anyhow. The cracks add a special touch to it. I like the handle too

[EvilDogBeast]

Started working on this. First build on the new form and first of my glass bows meant for me.

[flyonline]

Glued up a bow with some apple veneers. Aired it up really slow, 10 pounds at a time because I worried they might split but the they still did. Oh well, minor cosmetic flaw.

Ohh, nice! Sometimes clean and simple is more beautiful.