White Ash stave at low brace height -- Questions

[Pat B]

One reason I said to put this one down until later and start fresh with a new one is that you are agrivated, frustrated with this bow. By putting it aside and starting fresh with a new one it will clear your head so when you get back to it you can think clearly about where you are and where you want to go with this bow. That, IMO, will give you a better chance at finishing up successfully.
  On your new bow start fresh and know where you are going with it. Make a goal and achieve it.  If you want a bow that is 66" long and 50#@27" then start with the appropriate size stave(say 68") and design the bow to match the stave and the wood and take your time and make every scrape and rasp thoughtful. If you think you might screw up, you probably will. If you think you will build the bow you want, you probably will(barring any natural disasters). Positive thinking will get you way farther down the bow building road than just trial and error.

[Canoe]

"Still a lot to learn from this piece of wood"
                                                           Guy

Howdy Group,

OK, it sounds like there's a lot of interest in this stave. 

So, I'll go ahead and pike it down to about 65" ttt, then I'll have a look at the tiller and poundage.  If it's still too low in poundage, it might make a nice gift to the guy how gave me the small pile of super straight, White Ash logs that this stave comes from.  (He has a bunch of young, outdoorsy sons, I bet they could find use for a primitive bow.)

This stave I'm working with has been sitting in my very dry basement for a few years - it's dry and able. 

The design is an ALB type; 70-1/2" long, just 1-5/8 wide until the last 13" where it tapers to about 1/2" at the tips.  There is plenty of meat in the handle area for it to have a nice, cut-in arrow rest.  I haven't cut in the rest yet...  (I'm a lefty.  But, if I'm giving it away, I'll make it a righty bow.)

So again, I'll pike it and then check out the tiller and poundage.  From there, I'll decide if I'm going to heat in some reflex and back it. 

I'll be sure to post a few pic.s today.

Again, thanks for your interest and guidance,
Canoe


Pat,  I'll get a fresh start on my next bow real soon - a Red Oak board bow that is a 65" long ALB, 1-7/8" wide and tapers to about 1/2" at the tips.

I appreciate your advise,
Canoe

[Buckeye Guy]

I did not intend to imply that Pat was wrong in his advise , just did not want it set aside to far because its just getting started !!
I wanted to only offer encouragement ! It ain't over till its over !
I usually work on multiple bows at  the same time , so I can switch to one in a differant stage if I start to get frustrated or in a hurry!!
Long as your having fun , have at it !!
Guy

[Canoe]

Howdy Group,

So, I cut the length of this White Ash stave from 70-1/2" to 65".  I then roughed in some string grooves and put it up on the tillering board for a picture..

The tiller is off in that it seems to be bending to much just out of the fades, and not bending enough mid- and outer limb.

At this point, the bow comes in at 40#@ 27".
I'm thinking about cleaning up the tiller some and then gifting this one away to some lucky kid.

What are your suggestions?

[Del the cat]

IMO
It's what I call a bit 'square' that is the middle third here the handle is rather horizontal and the two end thirds are rather vertical.
So it needs to bend more at the fades and at near the tips.
But hey if it shoots that's a darned good start.
Del

[Canoe]

Howdy Del,

Yes, it's bending mostly a little out of the fades.  I didn't notice how bad it was until I looked at the picture.

I'm thinking about spending a little time cleaning up the tiller?  Or, maybe I should just move on, hopefully, with having learned a thing or two?

All the Best,
Canoe

[Buckeye Guy]

Now that you see the hinges, or spots that are bending to much! Work to get it evened up ,Post a new pic,then lets talk about flipping the tips and heat treating it !
Guy

[Canoe]

Howdy Group,

This morning, I restarted a Red Oak, ALB, board bow.  One of the limbs was bending smooth and evenly, the other limb had a bad hinge -- it snapped .

I'll get back to this Ash ALB, and see if I can get the limbs bending better.  Then, as Guy said, I could look at heat bending, etc.

Thanks for your encouragement,
Canoe

[Canoe]

Howdy Group,

Yesterday, I began to re-tiller this 65", White Ash ALB.  Short story is that it too snapped after removing wood in the non-bending areas of the limbs.  I was exercising the limbs down to about 25" when the one let lose and snapped.

I believe I learned a little from these recent two failures.  And, I'm well into my next 65" White Ash ALB.  (It was already roughed out, and is now just about floor tillered.) 

I think I will start a new thread, (what do you think?), for this this new bow. 
I'll get it to low brace, and then post a picture.  On this new White Ash, I had to heat in some reflex into one limb to get the limbs even.  I don't know how much time I should let the limb sit before starting to work the limbs?

Thanks again for all you interest and encouragement,
Canoe

[Canoe]

Howdy Group,

Well, this most recent White Ash bow is way under weight already.

I was not being patient enough, and next thing I knew I was looking at a low poundage bow.  I haven't measured it yet, but it's quite low.

I'll have to pull out the band saw and rough out some more staves from my wedges of logs.  I still have some White Ash, and I have some Shagbark Hickory all dried and ready to go.

All the Best,
Canoe

[George Tsoukalas]

Keep trying. YOu'll get a bow. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[johnston]

Is the ash thoroughly cured?

Lane

[Canoe]

Howdy Lane johnston and Group,

Yes, the Ash has been sitting under the stairs of my very dry basement for about 2-1/2 years.  The wood was originally cut in midwinter, so there was little sap in the logs to start with.

It's just me and my spokeshave, I was scraping way too fast and carelessly. 

I still have some more Ash in the basement.  And, I have a few split hickory logs that were cut early this Spring. Maybe today I'll rough out a few more staves.

Wish me luck.

Canoe