Completely new red oak elb

[youngbowyer]

here it is on the tiller pulled at 28 inches

[youngbowyer]

Thanks! The bow is pulling a lot less than I wanted to so I was thinking about treating it. However this is a board bow and I think that this is kiln dried wood so would heat treating work or would it make the bow to brittle

[gstoneberg]

...if you want more draw weight, start another one

Hopefully I can help with that.  Here's the osage stave I split out tonight for him:



90" long, over 2" wide at each end and a little over an inch thick at that little jog in the middle.  Quite straight, but it will need a little bit of straightening to keep the string in the handle.  It has a gentle twist but not bad.  To the center of that jog is 42" from the short end.   If I were making a bow from it I'd make that little curve the handle.  I can either send it as is (assuming I can find or make a box to fit) or cut it in half and splice it at the wide ends, taking out that bend.  Not sure which would be better.  I'm quite sure that'll make a heavy enough elb unless there's some damage under the sapwood I don't see .  I did see at least 2 knots.  Best of all it is so thin it only weighs 12 lbs.

George

[youngbowyer]

Looks like a nice stave George. Might be better to splice them because I'm not sure if I have the skill to work that twist

[gstoneberg]

Now I have a question.  When splicing billets to make an ELB, should I splice in reflex?  I would making a flatbow but not sure what to do here.

Thanks,
George

[youngbowyer33]

The bow and the tiller look great

[youngbowyer]

it broke again.....after some tears and some cursing and saying that i wouldnt make a bow again i decided to have one more go with the osage that george stoneberg is sending me. Red oak is just not working out for me.

[youngbowyer33]

Could you post another picture of the break? And also are you backing them?

[gstoneberg]

Now that I'm home from hunting I'll get after your stave.  Sorry to hear this one broke.  Do you want me to cut the stave down to length?  I can't remember what you were shooting for again?

George

[youngbowyer]

I'm going for about 60 pounds at 30" and around 68 to 70" long

[gstoneberg]

Got a few minutes to work on your bow stave before Thanksgiving dinner this morning.  Here's before and after I chased a growth ring.





Lots of borer damage.  It's good you didn't make this one your first time chasing a growth ring.  I'm going to go down one more ring to get rid of quite a bit of the damage, but will heat bend the bow first.  Then if I discolor that outside ring it'll get removed.  I'd like to make the limbs narrower before I do the bending.  Any borer holes remaining will be filled with sawdust and glued with superglue.

Can anyone give me approximate widths for an osage ELB so I don't make it too narrow?  The stave is about 76" now, once I have the tips aligned with the handle I'll probably shorten it to 72" for shipping.

Thanks,
George

[youngbowyer]

1 1/4 at the handle tapering down to 1/2 at the tips

[gstoneberg]

Sorry, I've been out deer hunting.  I won't go all the way to those dimensions, but it'll bend better if it's thinner.

Thanks,
George

[nidrinr]

Nice!
Looks like your shooting technique is very good too 

[youngbowyer]

Thanks!
George once i receive the stave could i round the back so the cross section is more oval like the mary rose bows or would that violate the back since you already the chased the growth ring.