New bow start

[Pat B]

got it down to a good back ring


she is a bit short. If all goes well, when done she'll bend through the handle, have recurved tips and sinew backed.

[Mad Max]

  Watching

[Pat B]

Well, I shot myself in the foot yesterday. This stave is 46" t/t but was about 1 1/2" thick. Instead of putting it on the bandsaw I decided to see if I could split off a piggyback mainly to reduce the thickness. It wasn't for greed but maybe a bit of laziness. Anyway that's where I screwed up...


The stave was originally 1 3/4" at the widest. After I split it the upper half that was going to be the back, already had a clean back ring came off uneven and probably too thin for what I wanted.



I may try to do something with it later but now on to this project.
This stave is 1 1/2 at it widest but with lots of irregularities between the 2 limbs. I've marked of the center line and handle and drew marks along each limb 2" apart so I can make both limb profiles similar.

[Roy from Pa]

Glad I never screwed up a piece of osage:)

[Skeeterlegs]

I have a collection of "oops" staves like that just waiting for "someday". I've had some of them for 25 or 30 years. Nice segway... "NEXT"

[Pat B]

I used the measurements I made previously, 2" intervals along each limb to match the wider limb to the narrower one. Once I reduced the width of the one limb I used a little heat to correct a bend at the end...



After a few hours in the straightening jig I clamped the tip of one limb to the recurve form. I had reduced the last 6" of each tip to a continuous growth ring on the belly.
 Even with the oil the belly scorched pretty good before the wood would submit to being bent. I did notice a small crack in the recurve but it looked pretty shallow and I have 5 rings total at each tip. I will work on the other limb tomorrow.

[Mad Max]

 

[Pat B]

I just took the recurved limb out of the form and put the other limb in the form to straighten the tip. After lunch I'll recurve that other tip.

[Kirkll]

What is your philosophy using heat instead of steam for bending those tips? I've always had great luck soaking wood and using steam.   i'm curious...   Kirk

[Pat B]

Speed, convenience and laziness, Kirk. 
 If I were going to bend big hooks I'd steam or boil but for these slight corrections and small recurves dry heat usually works well.

[Kirkll]

Got it.... Risky business that heat bending. But then again you are not introducing moisture into the wood again which could result in more fine tuning... Kirk

[Mad Max]

Osage reacts well to dry heat, but boiling/steaming are best for recurve tips. Good stuff

[Pat B]

Steaming and boiling don't necessarily add moisture. If the M/C is high enough steaming or boiling can force some of that moisture our. Dean Torges talked about this.
I removed the bow from the recurve form then realized this recurve was slightly longer than the other..

 
  ...so I put the first limb back in the form and reheated it.


  Later I removed it and and here is what she looks like now...


  and as you can see a bit more tip alignment is needed...

[Kirkll]

Another observation that has left me scratching my head is how thick those tips are that you guys are bending…. Why not taper the tips a bit before bending them? Seems like it would be much easier to do…

Kirk

[Pat B]

Kirk, they are a bit thick but I've taken the belly side down to one ring at the tips. Even though both recurves cracked across the belly from the drying of the heat the cracks only went down one ring and I will reduce that thickness, eliminating the cracks. All of that will come later when I do the final shaping on the tips.
 I've reduced the limb thickness and now she's starting to bend at floor tiller. Reduced the handle thickness and did a preliminary shaping of the handle. I'll fine tune that later. I've also put her in the reflex form and am straightening one limb and an initial tip alignment. I'll add more pics later.

[Pat B]

[Pat B]

this is the first limb after removing it from the form...


Here are the pics of the other limb. This limb was relatively straight. I only had to get the tip aligned...

[Pat B]

After straightening out the tips...


I did a bit more on this limb to get the mid limb in line.
Here is a profile shot after the straightening session...


...next...on a short long string here she is at 13"(45#)...

..the right limb has a hoopti-doo about 4" out from the handle giving a visible appearance of a hinge.
...next pic at 16"(47#)


...as you can see I still need to get both limbs bending evenly and together but I still have about 16# to reduce.
I'm shooting for 45#@23-25#. She will be sinew backed so I think I can possibly get to 25".I'm shooting for 45#@23-25#. She will be sinew backed so I think I can possibly get to 25".

[Kirkll]

Doesn’t adding the snew backing increase the draw weight and throw your tiller off?  Seems to me it would be better to get that backing on the bow BEFORE you fine tune the tiller… am I missing something here?  Kirk

[Pat B]

You are right, Kirk it will add weight and can throw the tiller off. I'm still trying to get both limbs bending evenly and together. I still have about 18# to loose so I still have plenty of time to do a little work before adding the sinew. Once the sinew is on there is no heat correction.
 Adding sinew will add weight. It depends on how much sinew is added of course. Once it's on and has plenty of time to cure out then I'll re-visit the tillering process and weight reduction.
 Some folks add sinew early on in the process, some after tillering is done. I like to get the limbs bending evenly and together before I add the sinew. So far that has worked best for me.