Osage Layout Following the Crown

[bigcountry]

I have been reading thru Dean Torges book and was surprised he finds centerline by the crown.  No mention of grain or how it runs. 

I was tought to follow the grain of the osage no matter if its dips or curves or crowns.

Am I reading his book wrong?  If I follow the crown only couldn't I get grain runoff?

[woodstick]

iam sure you may find a piece that will but i follow the grain every time, thats just what i been told. and i think it would be a bad thing to run off the grain. my 2 cents.

[Eric Krewson]

Here is the deal on following the crown. If you follow the crown you will have a consistent stave from on end to the other. The crown will also turn with every snake and undulation. The most important thing about following the crown is when you string your bow it it is much less likely to have a limb dogleg right or left on you.

On staves from really big trees you may have an almost flat back which has no crown to follow so you can lay out your bow in any part of the stave you choose to.

I have never noticed any more grain runout when I follow the crown on a stave.

[bigcountry]

Ok, so what your saying Eric is 90% of the time its a non-issue where the crown follows the grain anyway?

[Pat B]

It has been my observation that generally the crown(across the stave) follows the grain; this is the way a tree grows. Dips and roll don't necessarily play a role in regard to the crown. The crown is the high point across the back of the stave and the dips and rolls are generally along length of the stave.
  I have tillered bows with no visible  crown or with negative crown(concave back) but generally in my experiences if you follow the crown of the stave you are also following the grain.
   Just the fact that you taper the back profile when cutting out a bow violates the grain.  Controlling the severity of that taper and the runoffs allows the you to be successful when building wood bows.

[bigcountry]

All this makes sense.  I have a black locust stave I am laying out now.  Just so happens the crown is pronounced and I heard this is best for bL.  But if I follow the crown exctly, my center of the bow will run off.  I guess there are exceptions?  Or maybe I should just follow it?

[Pat B]

I try to follow the grain down the center of the bow. Like was said, this usually follows the crown but not always. With wood bow building nothing is cut in stone. If you are following the grain and the crown doesn't you will have to take a little more care while tillering so your limbs bend evenly and together.

[Pappy]

I usually try and start in the middle of the stave on one end or the other,I don't pay much attention to the crown but have noticed most of the time it will follow it.I just follow the grain no matter where it goes and then straighten the stave as needed.
   Pappy

[Tom Leemans]

Yes, I read the similar post on the other site and I'm going to reread that section of the book to be sure, but I believe Eric is right on. Following the crown (which usually follows the grain) will give you a set of limbs that are more likely to pull straight back, and not have a tendancy to twist. You can always heat "correct" your roughed out bow if you want. "Little Darlings" I believe Dean calls them.

[George Tsoukalas]

big, you were taught correctly. Pretty much the same thing. I think following the grain is much easier. Some staves have pretty flat back making the crowns less obvious. Jawge