Author Topic: There's nothing like a stave  (Read 9165 times)

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Offline Barrage

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2009, 06:36:09 pm »
Boards and staves - both started out from the same place... ;)
Travis

Grunt

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2009, 09:07:51 pm »
I like to make both board and stave bows. Board bows are cheap to make easy to back and you can move right along with them. Stave bows take more time but I do get more of a feeling of accomplishment with a stave bow that I boned and rived out of a log, sealed, seasoned, and tillered into meat maker.

Offline NTProf

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #17 on: September 07, 2009, 09:37:34 pm »
Grunt: well-said!

Offline Jesse

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #18 on: September 07, 2009, 10:12:45 pm »
I like a good stave but I usually use boards because I like to make bamboo backed bows. 
Just aim. Just curious what you meant when you said any descent bow wood can outperform ipe or osage if made properly. I think that is true but only if the ipe bow is not made properly ;D If they are both made properly I dont think its a contest :) some descent bow woods cant handle the strain of high performance designs like ipe or osage can.
I just had to mess with ya :). I really dont care. Just make what you like  right? :)
"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere."
    --Frank A. Clark

Offline Barrage

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #19 on: September 07, 2009, 10:55:30 pm »
some descent bow woods cant handle the strain of high performance designs like ipe or osage can.

Man, the way everyone talks up Ipe (and Osage!), I need to get my hands on it and try it out one day!  Should be able to find Ipe at some of the better lumber places.  Osage would be tough to locate around here though...
Travis

Offline El Destructo

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #20 on: September 08, 2009, 12:25:26 am »
Where is....Around here?? You may never know what lurks in your Area...till you let people know where it may be..... :P
As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another.Why do you think we invented politics and religion.
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Do Or Do Not,There Is No TRY
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Offline sailordad

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #21 on: September 08, 2009, 12:56:36 am »
im gonna go out on a limb here(pun intended)
i'll bet hes from  TRAVIS,CALGARY ALBERTA CANADA
just a guess though ;)
i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline MaceG

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #22 on: September 08, 2009, 02:32:14 am »
Sharp eyes there, sailordad.
Set happens - Jawge

Offline JustAim

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #23 on: September 08, 2009, 05:39:36 am »
I like a good stave but I usually use boards because I like to make bamboo backed bows. 
Just aim. Just curious what you meant when you said any descent bow wood can outperform ipe or osage if made properly. I think that is true but only if the ipe bow is not made properly ;D If they are both made properly I dont think its a contest :) some descent bow woods cant handle the strain of high performance designs like ipe or osage can.
I just had to mess with ya :). I really dont care. Just make what you like  right? :)

You are correct, Jesse. l just meant that you dont have to have those two woods to make a good fast bow and dont need to spend money for it either. And l agree with you about it doesnt really matter...and to just have fun. :) 

Offline The Gopher

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #24 on: September 08, 2009, 12:05:40 pm »
i can understand the feeling of starting with a tree that you cut down and ending up with a finished bow from it but...

wood is wood and a bow is a bow. a board bow doesn't have to be "dimensional" nobody has ever said you can't chase a ring and follow the grain on a board bow, doing this can result in a snakey character bow just as easily as a stave can.

Cheaper to cut staves? maybe maybe not, if the tree is in your backyard then yes, do you have to drive to some wood lot, gas isn't free. chainsaw? i don't have one. on the other hand there is a hardwoods dealer 2 blocks from my place of employment, in my case board bows are way cheaper than staves, unless my generous friends give them to me  ;D

now having said all that, i prefer staves, its just not always the best option for me when i have to consider cost, time, etc.
45# at 27"

Offline MaceG

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #25 on: September 08, 2009, 12:45:15 pm »
I'm not knocking board bows. The end result can be exceptional. It's just the process. Half the work has already been done for you. Just feels wrong.
Set happens - Jawge

Offline Kent D.

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #26 on: September 08, 2009, 04:47:10 pm »
I know what you mean.  Ive got several staves waiting for me.  Ones I had to kill myself to get to.  Several Osage and hackberry logs.  All the Osage is ready to go, when I get a chance.  The hackberry staves will not be ready for several more months.  I love the connection of starting with a tree, cutting it down and splitting it into staves, them making a bow from it.

Dont get me wrong, I love my ipe bamboo lam bows.  Nothing wrong with that at all.

Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #27 on: September 08, 2009, 10:31:22 pm »
Nothing wrong with boards  provided you pick straight grained stock. More on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/
Set Happens!
If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin!

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #28 on: September 08, 2009, 11:47:03 pm »
There is just something about walking through the woods looking for a "bow" tree to cut down and haul back to the house.  I am not sure walking down the lumber isle would yield the same feeling.  However, great bows can be made from both.  Just my 2 cent's.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline J05H

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Re: There's nothing like a stave
« Reply #29 on: September 09, 2009, 05:45:12 am »
For me, a stave is the way to go. There are certain applications for which lumber is preferable but I like to build self bows though, and for that, you need a stave. I've tried making self bows from red oak and I haven't had much luck. Maybe it's 'cause I'm new. With a stave you kind of get in tune with the wood. With a board, it just feels like a chore.
If you never have time to do it right, you'll always have time to do it over.