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Author Topic: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.(More picsFinished for now)  (Read 11418 times)

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Offline dbb

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A challenging piece of wood,and a question.(More picsFinished for now)
« on: July 19, 2011, 12:33:53 pm »
Ran into a young couple that was clearing up their yard,and of course i offered to help if i could have some of the wood >:D
Wasnt too much to salvage but i got this prunus,it almost  looks like a birdcherry but not a perfect match.
The girl said the previous owner said it was some kind of wild cherry.
They are goin to take down an old apple tree later and promised to give me a call so i can come and "help" again ;D
I got home glued it up pealed and split it ,it looked like a dna molecule :o. I might get 2 staves out of it but i have to really learn how to bend wood.
Question is should i steam it and strap it down when green or try when its cured? Making firewood isnt an option unless i fail,this is a opportunity to learn.
Here is a pic of one of the staves,it almost makes gstonebergs look straight ;)


/Mikael
« Last Edit: August 19, 2011, 06:10:35 pm by dbb »
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Offline BowJunkie

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2011, 12:54:10 pm »
WOW.
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Johnny
in Texas

Online Pat B

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2011, 01:08:19 pm »
WOW again!  That is a challanging stave.  :o   Wet wood lends itself to wet heat(steam) and infact the steam will help force moisture out of a green stave. With that much twist you will have to work it a little at a time, maybe concentration of the worst twist first and get the stave to a managable state so you can clamp and steam it to do a final straightening.  I would seal the back with a few coats of shellac. Shellac can take the heat and moisture of steaming batter than other sealers.
  "DNA" or "Double Helix" would be good names for the finished bow...although by the time you get a shootable bow from this stave you may have a few "choice" words that would apply.  >:D
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline dbb

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2011, 01:13:19 pm »
Oh,i have no doubt i will be able to write a "Lexicon of foul language " when/if im done with this.
But the main thing is i will learn more from it than a truckload of perfect staves ;)

/Mikael
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2011, 01:14:18 pm »
Too many trees around for me to even want to get that mad!
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Offline dbb

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2011, 01:19:37 pm »
Quote from: PEARL DRUMS on July 19, 2011, 01:14:18 pm
Too many trees around for me to even want to get that mad!
Yeah thats one of the things,where i live we have birch,fir,pine and some more birch unless you count the ornamental trees.
The thing is people get a bit cranky when you cut down trees in parks and backyards ;D

/Mikael
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blackhawk

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2011, 02:59:34 pm »
IMHO and honestly that's firewood. Waaaaay too much twist.
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Offline toomanyknots

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2011, 03:11:00 pm »
"Too many trees around for me to even want to get that mad!"

LOL Dbb, your one of those masochistic bowyers I see.
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Online Pat B

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2011, 03:22:20 pm »
Even if this stave doesn't make a successful bow it will teach you a whole lot about wood and it's limitations. I would definately tackle a stave like this just for the experience.   You may even be able to make a shootable bow without too much untwisting. A bit of twist isn't much of a problem in self bows like it is in lam bows.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline dbb

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2011, 03:24:39 pm »
Quote from: toomanyknots on July 19, 2011, 03:11:00 pm
"Too many trees around for me to even want to get that mad!"

LOL Dbb, your one of those masochistic bowyers I see.
I thought all bowyers are...its just a matter of how much so ;D

Quote from: blackhawk on July 19, 2011, 02:59:34 pm
IMHO and honestly that's firewood. Waaaaay too much twist.
I actually agree,and it was my first thought when i saw the twist.But then again,if i make a shooter out of this i will have learnt alot..and if i dont... i have learnt how firewood looks :laugh:

/Mikael
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Offline gstoneberg

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2011, 03:34:08 pm »
Wow, that has nearly a 270 degree twist??! :o  DNA is right!  I cut them up for firewood at 90 degrees.   I would not know where to start on that one.  That's not true, you conquer crooked wood by picking the worst bends and tackling them.  Continue doing that on lesser and lesser bends until you can live with the result.  Normally  there'll be a couple spots you can get a lot of the bend out in one shot.  You might want to try to rough the bow's shape out before starting so it's easier to bend.  Pat's right as always and I love Double Helix as a bow name too.  If it were mine (and I didn't cut it up for firewood)  I'd also try to steam out the worst bends until I could clamp it to a workbench.  Then I'd let it dry like that.  Once fully dry, I'd make a full length form, perhaps making a recurve or D/R longbow.  Then I'd use dry heat and work from one end to the other doing both heat treating and bending in a single step, clamping it flat against the form, similar to what Pat did with his elm recurve.

But in truth, that'd be smoking wood if it were mine.  You pull this off and I'll do my darndest to send you an osage set of billets.  Might have to take up a collection for shipping... :-\  and they might not be straight... >:D O:)

Good luck.
George
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Offline Del the cat

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2011, 04:12:14 pm »
I think you are doomed to frustration with that one.
Even if you get it to look straight, I'll bet you a fiver it won't draw straight.
Del
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Offline aznboi3644

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2011, 04:13:34 pm »
my first sapling  I cut was twisted just like that...I didn't think it would make a bow.  But I just kept tillering even with the horrible twist but the bow is tillered out to 20".  I shoved it in the corner until I pick it up again in a few years lol.
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Offline dbb

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #13 on: July 19, 2011, 04:41:49 pm »
Whatever happens,if i make a bow out of this or not(i sure hope i will)adds to my experience.
So its really a win-win situation.
And on the upside of things,if i make a bow from this,i dont think i will balk at any stave thats not rotten :laugh:

/Mikael
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Offline lowell

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Re: A challenging piece of wood,and a question.
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2011, 05:07:14 pm »
I see the possibility of an artistic barber pole ;)...but good luck making it into a bow!! 8)
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