I think I'm getting close - Help me to the finish line.

[Honest Jon]

Happy New Year Burnsie,
I don’t think you are, but please don’t be discouraged. You’ve done some nice things to this bow already and with a little more sorting it can likely be a bow you’ll enjoy and be proud of.  I’m still very much an amateur bowyer after building some 40 bows. At least ten of which blew up at late stages of the build. It can be deflating! On the other hand, I’ve built some beauties including my favorite hunting bow. Hanging on my wall alongside about a dozen of my bows, I keep the remnants of a bamboo-backed Osage bow that exploded just after I thought it was finished. I’m still not sure why it broke. Could be an error on my part or it could be the nature of the wood.

Hang in there!
Jon

[Burnsie]

Getting back to it - hope everyone is having a great New Year.
Jon - All is well, no discouragement here - I'd never let something like a self bow ruin my day.  I enjoy being in the shop, shaping wood and learning.  If this one doesn't work out, I have plenty more roughed out and many staves seasoning in the shed.
Right now I have the bow to the point where I am reasonably happy with it, even though I know it wouldn't pass inspection with most of the very experienced bowyers on this forum.  I may bring it down to the Tennessee Classic this Spring and see if someone will help me perfect the tiller - or tell me its a lost cause??? Here is a recent pic.

Also, what is the preferred cross-section profile of a typical Osage self bow limb?  I know you want to round over the edges, but to what extent. How much rounding do you want to do on the back of the bow without violating a a bunch of growth rings? I included a rough sketch below, what version do you want your cross-section to look like? I drew the back of the bow straight across, more than likely it will have a bit of a convex shape to it due to the natural shape of the stave and circular rings.

[Mad Max]

Match the belly to the crown on the back, radius as a green pea all 4  corners.
Come to the classic and join the bow challenge, plenty of help and I'm sure you will build a great bow.
Build the bow and shoot the target range for a trophy , lots of fun for the whole family.
up to 800/900 people there on Saturday
 

[Roy from Pa]

Looking better.
On the next one try getting the bend starting closer to the end of the fades.

[Roy from Pa]

[Kirkll]

Looking better.
On the next one try getting the bend starting closer to the end of the fades.

Why would you want that bow bending closer to the fades?  That doesn’t make any sense to me…

[Roy from Pa]

That's cause you are from Oregon:)

[mmattockx]

Match the belly to the crown on the back, radius as a green pea all 4  corners.

This I will disagree with. The most efficient cross section is a rectangle but you can't have that when following a ring on the back. You can have a flat belly, though and that minimizes the compression stress on the belly wood by spreading it as evenly as possible and reduces the chance of taking set or getting chrysals.

Definitely want to radius the corners, especially on the back. I only radius mine maybe 0.08"-0.1", though, never as much as the recommended pea size. A bigger radius doesn't hurt, it just takes a bit of performance away for more margin on lifting a splinter. YMMV.

Why would you want that bow bending closer to the fades?  That doesn’t make any sense to me…

Wood can't take the strain that FG can, so you get better performance by getting the whole limb to bend and share the strain more equally. If you concentrate the bend all in one spot like you can with FG you overstress the wood and end up with a bunch of set and poor performance.


Mark

[Kirkll]

thanks mattocks... that makes sense.   

[Mad Max]

mmattockx
It's Osage
Have you ever tried to scrape a belly flat, your scraper needs to be real sharp and it's not easy.
A rounded/faceted belly is easy to scrape and makes a great looking bow also.

Remember we are teaching Newbie's here. All the bows I see at the Classic for teaching newbie's to be successful making and shooting bows are radius belly.
Yes a flat belly would/could have more performance, not sure
A pea give some reference to size

Here is 1 reference to the subject
https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=160919.0

[Roy from Pa]

All I make are wood/bamboo backed bows.

Every bow I've made in 15 years has had a rounded belly.

[Mad Max]

All I make are wood/bamboo backed bows.

Every bow I've made in 15 years has had a rounded belly.

Me thinks it's been more than 15

[mmattockx]

It's Osage
Have you ever tried to scrape a belly flat, your scraper needs to be real sharp and it's not easy.
A rounded/faceted belly is easy to scrape and makes a great looking bow also.

Fair enough. Osage is also much more compression tolerant than the woods I have to work with up here, so those small details matter more for me.

Every bow I've made in 15 years has had a rounded belly.

I didn't say it won't work, I said a rectangle is the most efficient shape.


Mark

[Honest Jon]

The guy who makes all my bows has a rounded belly too…and he looks a lot like me😆
Jon

[Kirkll]

The guy who makes all my bows has a rounded belly too…and he looks a lot like me😆
Jon

Now THAT.... was funny!