100yr old R/D Fencepost Bow (finished!!!)

[Will H]

Hello again! Ive been itchin to get something going on some of the old osage fenceposts I recently got my hands on. I have a matched set 38"L  and about 1" thick at the spice area. I'm thinking about using the natural deflex reflex to my advantage and trying something I haven't done. Heres some pics of where I'm at so far. I need some advice on what spice I should use. Also, should I go for a r/d style bow or a working recurve. Ive never built either but Ive really been wanting to try a recurve, Ive just been waiting for the right piece of wood. Any input would be greatly appreciated. 

[gstoneberg]

I believe I'd do it exactly the way you've laid it out on the floor there.  I might glue in just a touch of reflex, but not very much.  The reason I'd do an R/D is because heat bent working recurves sometimes loose their bend.  Natural reflex like you have is likely to stay there.  You can always heat bend a straight bow into a static recurve, but it may be awhile before you see that kind of natural matching reflex/deflex in billets again.  But, at the end of the day it's your wood, you get to do what you want.

Love the staple, but I'm hoping it's under the bow limb since it is in the side of the stave.  In the back it'd be no problem at all, but it in the side I'd be concerned about a split along that ring.

Good luck with it, that looks like really nice osage and I don't see the bug damage we get down here.  Should make a great bow.

George

[blackhawk]

I vote leave as is as well with a slight reflex in the glued up splice. That's way too cool to find that profile natural. I wouldn't do a thing to it. Nice find.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Dang nice find there, its already aged nicely. How lucky can a guy get to find two posts with exact profiles? Im anxious to see this one.

[Will H]

Thanks for the input guys... George, that staple is on the side but it's low and won't effect the bow. I gathered these posts right on the Texas AR OK border. There's slot of bug damage on most of em, this one was just quite a bit larger. Actually I was able to get a belly split off it. That's how I ended up with matching profiles. what kind of glue do u recommend? I don't have any urac available. I was hoping I could use something I could pick up at lowes or something. Also, I've never spliced limbs before. What do u recommend? I want to make a stiff handle bow. Thanks again for the help y'all!

[El Destructo]

Will...the way you have it laid out is Great...but where the Splice is going to be...Deflex it a bit more....if anything (set it back more toward the String)..I myself would leave it be....and they are right..the Natural Reflex will stay ...where heated or steamed in may come out  some...but not much with Osage...I think this is going to turn out great...and nice rings there too! Oh and for Glue...I would forgo the Lowes and Home Depot Glues...and get some Bow Grip...or Urac...much stronger...and either one is easily obtainable

[gstoneberg]

Will,

I agree with El D.  Lowe's does sell a slow dry epoxy, 8oz for $15.  But, you can by a quarts worth of Smooth-on EA-40 from 3Rivers for $32 which ends up being half as expensive in the long run.  Urac is even cheaper and also available from 3Rivers.  These are great billets, I'd use a proven glue.  Don't even think about 5min epoxy.   I've never had EA-40 fail except once when my clamps failed and the wood wasn't touching.  I bought a pint of EA-40 10 years ago and I'm still using it.  Plan to try Urac here soon.

I use a Z-splice with 1 or 2 wood pins to join billets and then I always make a stiff handled bow.  I'm about to leave for a hog hunt, but if you still need help I'd be happy to discuss splicing at length after I get back Sunday night.  Too bad you're so far from Dallas.

George

[Parnell]

That looks like a really fun project.  I hope it works out well for you.

[Will H]

Well I ordered some Urac 185 after y'all suggested it...it came in today so I went ahead and cut the splice. I decided to go with a 2 1/2" tapered finger joint like Marc St Louis showed in his article "Splicing- The long and short of it" PA April/May 2009. I made a few practice runs to work out the kinks since I haven't done a splice before. Finally figured it out and got em together...Whew!...I'm gonna wait till tomorrow to mess with the glue. I was thinking about mixing it by weight with my digital grain scale. Any suggestions as to how and how much? Heres some new pics of the progress.

[Lee Slikkers]

What a killer score!  Nothing like built in character and age to boot...I think the layout in the last pic will make a great bow.  Looking forward to seeing this one.

[blackhawk]

Duuuuude.....that is looking reaaallly good. 

Can't wait to see this one all finished up.

[gstoneberg]

Looks great, should be a wonderful bow.

George

[Will H]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys! Ive been working on it a bit more...glue up went pretty good. I put in 1 1/4" of reflex at the splice, and added a new osage riser to get the handle thick enough and to add color contrast. Then proceeded to tillering after the glue cured. I got it to a 5 1/2" brace right now. Heres some pics of the progress so far...

[Will H]

The lower limb (on the right) as you can see has a bit more curve to it than the other... Ive never tillered a bow like this and Im sorta having trouble judging the bend. Ive just been treating it like a charecter bow by just really focusing on an even thickness taper. But that lower limb has got me puzzled. Im not sure if I should keep scraping that reflexed area near the outer mid limb to get its profile more like the top limb or what?? Also, when I narrowed my tips down to around 3/8" I went to one side a little to help center the string a little better with the handle. Now when I try to string it the string comes off. I think it might have to do with string angle with the almost recurved bottom limb but Im not sure...? Any suggestions? I really dont want to mess this one up. 

[FlintWalker]

I'd remove a little of the reflex in that one limb. As far as the string trying to come off...you might not want to, but you're probably gonna have to do a little straightening with heat to stop that.
 Looks Awesome so far!