Vine Maple for my father (Thar She Blows!!!)

[Weylin]

On a recent shooting excursion with some friends we cut a nice vine maple stave. I plan to make a bow for my father as a welcome to Oregon gift. He will be moving from Wisconsin out to Oregon to be closer to my wife, son and me. He's always shot fiberglass recurves but he's really into primitve skills in general so I think he'd enjoy a selfbow. I had to trick him into giving me his draw weight and length in the context of a larger conversation about archery over the phone without him knowing what was up. Here's the stave right after being cut and then some pics of it after I reduced it with my hand axe, stripped the bark off and sealed the ends with glue. After it dries for a couple months I'll get to work on it and give some more updates.

[Pat B]

That should make a great bow for your Dad. Lots of character like him I bet. 
  Where in Oregon are you? Oregon is one of my favorite places to visit. My sister lives in Beaverton and my wife and I have driven around the NW 1/4 of the state on a couple of visits out there.

[mullet]

You couldn't ask for a better wood to make him one. I'll bet he'll enjoy it. When he decides to give up those nasty glass bows, email me, I can help.

[Weylin]

Yeah he's definitely a character. Oregon is really a great place, I live in Portland, which is right next to Beaverton as I'm sure you know if you've been here. There are a lot of great bowyer's out here, I'm just starting to get in touch with some of them.

@ Mullet, thanks for your generous offer to take those off his hands, I'll send him your way when he's ready. 

[Pat B]

Keenan and his wife Lulyn are in Bend. Great folks! Gordan lives in Beaverton and don't forget Ted Fry in Hood River.
  Usually when we fly in we go directly to China Town for dim sum to help wind down from the trip. 

[Weylin]

Nice, I'll have to try the Dim Sum. Gordon was the one who helped pick out and cut the stave, actually. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the other people you mentioned but I did get to work with John Strunk in Tillamook for a whole weekend. That was awesome.

[Gordon]

You did a nice job debarking and reducing the stave. That's going to make a very nice bow.

[Weylin]

Thanks Gordon, I've got a good feeling about it. It is pulling into a fair bit of reflex as it's drying, should I be concerned about that at a certain point or will it be easy to tame that down when it's time to build the bow?

[John W. Cooper]

I'm really looking forward to this build.  I love the look of the pristine back after peeling of the bark like that.  So much easier than chasing a ring.  That reflex that it's pulling into should make it a real screamer!

John

[Gordon]

Weylin, vine maple is reaction wood so it will pull into reflex as it dries and there is not much you can do to stop that. But with careful tillering and patience it can be tamed.

[Elktracker]

I agree I am looking forward to updates

[Weylin]

Ok, it's been drying for a couple months so I went ahead and chopped it down to rough bow dimensions with my hand axe. On the advice of Gordon I'm going to give it another month or so before I reduce it more and start bending it but for now here it is roughed out. It's taken a hint of reflex since it started,  it was pretty much straight when I cut it. I'm looking forward to seeing what kinda bow I can make out of this.

[Gordon]

Weylin your stave looks like a good one, but it will probably pull into a little more reflex by the time it is dry.

[Elktracker]

Looking good! Keep it up!

Josh

[Denham Archer]

Weylin, I applaud you for making a bow for your father!  My father got me interested in archery when I was a pre-teenager.  He became an archer when he picked up an English long bow serving in England during WWII.  How I wish he were still here to shoot with me.  It's coming along well.  I'm sure your father will love it!