Roughing out a stave

[George Tsoukalas]

" I probably didn't pose my question right. The thing I was wondering about was not so much how you got to the point of a roughed out stave but where you wanted that stave to be just prior to starting the tillering process. Steve"
Oh, LOL, I was wondering why you cared about my wood reduction methods. You know how I determine the stave's readiness for the short string. LOL.  I long string tiller out to 10 inches making sure the limbs are bending evenly and well. I keep long string tillering  until I get the stave at that 10 inches of string movement (not tip movement) and around 5# over my target weight. That puts me at 10-15# over target when I string'er up. Plenty of tillering room to make weight. This is for my 26 in draw. Floor tillering and then slapping on the short string resulted in many breaks during my early days. So coax and cajole the stave from long string to final tillering. Heck I don't even pull to full target weight until 25 inches. Jawge

[Badger]

   Art, i think your method might be similar to mine, I chase down a growth ring on the belly just to get the orientation of my imb set and then I go ahead and taper it down by getting the V's all running the right direction. I pretty much quit using the long string if I am building a weight and style I am real familar with, I just floor tiller until it is ready to brace, that will usually put me within about 10# of finishing.
    I watched Tim Baker one time split the back off of an osage stave, instead of chasing a growth ring by using a bunch of small wedges pounded in every few inches along the same growth ring. I went home and tried it both on the back and the belly and it worked like a champ. Have to cut down to the right ring on both sides of the handle before splitting of course. Steve

[artcher1]

No, I think our methods are quite different Steve. I'm appling a taper to my limbs as I cut/rough "em out. I use predetermine dimemsions to get my limbs bending. For example, 5/8" limb thickness outside the fades to 1/2" mid-limb and then carry that dimension on to the tip. That would be for a rectangular limb design. For a straight profile stave, that would give me a somewhat elliptical tiller suitable for my shorter draw. Of course, I still watch the growth rings, feel the wood and sight my work for any trouble spots. But all in all, my limbs are bending the way I want before the tips ever hit the floor. Here's a pic............ART

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[Jesse]

   
    I watched Tim Baker one time split the back off of an osage stave, instead of chasing a growth ring by using a bunch of small wedges pounded in every few inches along the same growth ring. I went home and tried it both on the back and the belly and it worked like a champ. Have to cut down to the right ring on both sides of the handle before splitting of course. Steve

 Now thats a great idea. Does anyone else do this?
 I reminded myself the hard way the other day of why we angle our cuts to avoid cutting one side thin. I ruined an elm stave that was about the nicest stave you could dream of and it was perfectly dry and ready to be a bow. it was really straight with no knots and no twist. Had a nice flat back and an even natural reflex on both limbs. I got too confident on the bandsaw and next thing I know one side is thin and its wrecked I knew better.  I proceeded to cut the messed up limb into little pieces I plan to make a nice takedown or spliced handle bow with the rest.