finally started my newest selfbow

[Buemaker]

Looking good Pat. That concave thing is a pain. When I make Yew bows sometimes a section of the back is concave and the rest is convex. The concave section seem to be stiffer and have to be taken into consideration. I guess it is the same if you fold a strip of paper and hold it out it will be stiffer with concave side up. But if anyone can do it you are the man.

[Pat B]

Yeah, Bue, I haven't worked many with concave backs over the years so I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. Ten years ago I wouldn't have given it much thought but I haven't built many selfbows in the last few years so it's almost like starting over.

[George Tsoukalas]

Very nice. I've never liked chasing rings. Jawge

[Pat B]

George, I always thought that removing dried sapwood was a pain.    I might be rethinking that. 

[Mad Max]

Very nice. I've never liked chasing rings. Jawge

sometimes it's easy and some times a pain

[Pat B]

I did a little more reduction this morning. My basement shop is 45 deg. this morning and standing on the concrete floor really gets the cold in my old bones.
 Anyway...My initial reduction was to make the limbs 3/4" thick. After I get it down to that point I floor tiller check to see if there is any bend. At this point there rarely is but I always check just in case. Next I thin the limbs to 5/8". To get my line down the side of the limb I first mark 5/8" at a few points down each side of each limb then draw a line. I use my fingers and a pencil to do this...


...on all 4 sides. you can see the 3/4" line and the 5/8" line here...


making sure I follow the ups and downs of the back with the pencil line...



then I start reducing the thickness with a farriers rasp using the faceted method, first down one side of the limb, then the other side. not sure if you can see these facets in the pic but there is a peak down the center...



then I reduce that peak with the farriers and clean up the tool marks with a scraper and center the crown of the belly down the center of the limb...
 

to be continued...

[Mad Max]

Those are thin rings

[Roy from Pa]

You was a busy guy today, Pat.

Looks nice.

[Pat B]

Yes they are Mark. Although if they were thicker I'd still be scraping on the back. 
Roy, just busy enough. 

[wood carver 2]

Pat, I know what you mean about the cold creeping up into your feet from the floor. I have the same problem in my shop. It sure limits the amount of time that I can stay out there in winter.
I use a foam mat to stand on. The type that dovetails together in two foot squares. It’s about 1/2” thick and it sure helps.
Dave.

[Pat B]

Thanks for the tip, Dave. Even in the summer it would cushion the concrete floor and my 70 year old legs and feet would appreciate that. 
BTW, my cold ain't Canada cold but it is still cold to me.   

[Mad Max]

60* the other day, 30* today

[Pat B]

That's how we've been Mark. Up and down and by next weekend way down. At least we aren't in the northeast. 

[Mad Max]

 

[Pat B]

Today I drew a line along the edges at 1/2" and removed wood to that line with a crowned belly. Checking floor tiller the limbs are bending slightly.


I like to check the thickness along and across the limbs using my hand as a thickness gauge. Amazing how small a difference in thickness you can feel like this...


being that the limbs are getting thin but still barely bending at floor tiller tells me it time to narrow the limbs some. But first I move from the bench vise to the Stave Master, the best bow building tool I ever bought. This was made by a bowyer named Keenan Howard of Bend Oregon. Keenan is a fabulous selfbow builder with a bad back so he came up with this bow bench. I got this bow bench without a seat and bought a plastic boat seat for it. The seat swivel comes with the bow bench...



The front portion with the bow holder swivels allowing easy access to the stave...



This is what would be called the knucklehead on a standard bow bench. The square tube "table" that the stave rests on slides forward to back so you can adjust it as you work out towards the end of the limb.

[Roy from Pa]

That's looking nice Pat.

I got a yew stave off Keenan years ago.

I chat with him on Facebook now and then.

[Buemaker]

That Stave Master looks great, nice progress.

[Pat B]

It's been a few years since I've talked to Keenan. I don't do facebook. I don't even know it he is still making the Stave Master.
 Thanks Bue. The Stave Master is the cat's meow for sure. Pretty simple but very effective.

[gifford, MO]

Well, I just checked and he does have a website. stavemaster.com also has his telephone number. He makes it two sizes, for folks under 5'8" tall and those over 5"8".

[Pat B]

Keenan is way under 5'8" tall. I'm 5'8" and he has to look up to me.  My stave Master fits me well but at the time I bought it he only had one model.
 Keenan is a true artist in whatever he does from his magnificent selfbows of all sorts of wood to his metal fabrication and not just the Stave Master. He did a custom build for a guy that collected model trains and built a steel tressel to go around his fireplace near the ceiling, riveted together and to scale. He is just one of those guys that can do anything and very well.